The meeting is taking place under the shadow of a fierce border row between India and China, both members of the influential bloc.
Declaration by China of a new overlapping Air Defence Identification Zone over contested islands of Diaoyu/Senkaku besides raising tensions between Tokyo and Beijing have caused reverberations in the strategic firmament of the entire Asia-Pacific region.
'The killings are a worrisome escalation of tensions, but little is known about the immediate causes or results of the fight in Galwan and it is not possible, at this point, to assign blame'
'It's a very tough situation. We're talking to India. We're talking to China. They've got a big problem there'
The official told the reporters during a conference call on Friday, ahead of the next week's 2+2 India-US Ministerial in New Delhi, that the Trump administration was providing support to India through defence sales, joint military exercises and information sharing.
'Washington appears to be playing the long game, and making the argument to India that over the longer term, Russia -- sanctioned, cash-strapped, isolated by the West -- will no longer be a viable defence partner for India'
The stagnation in US-Russia relations does not augur well for New Delhi's strategic interests, says Harsh V Pant and Raj Kumar Sharma.
With tensions between China and Taiwan rapidly increasing, the tone of China's official media has also become progressively more strident, observes former senior RA&W officer and China expert Jayadeva Ranade.
"A Biden administration will be mostly positive for India," said Rick Rossow from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank. "I expect most positive areas of cooperation -- notably defence -- to be maintained," he said.
'Russia is the only country that can act as facilitator for any eventual Chinese-Indian rapprochement,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Amid escalation of maritime tensions with neighbours and a US military focus shift to Asia Pacific, Chinese military is stepping up its conventional missile capability, polishing its ability to carry out multiplelaunches while preserving its strategic nuclear deterrence.
Noting that India is increasingly getting concerned about China's posture on its border, a top United States intelligence official said on Wednesday that the Indian Army is strengthening itself for a "limited conflict" with China.
Amid raging tension in the Korean peninsula, new Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday warned that no one should be allowed to throw the region into chaos for "selfish gains", saying future of rapidly growing Asia depends on peace and stability.
India, Japan and the Unoted States on Friday kicked off their marine war games, Malabar Exercise, close to the South China Sea as they focus on deeper military ties and greater interoperability amid rising tensions in the region.
China's first aircraft carrier has commenced its second sea trials in the Pacific Ocean to test its deck for fighter landings as well to check its weapons systems, ahead of its likely deployment next year.
India, Jaishankar said, is a "prisoner of its past image" and must get over it.
The resolution was introduced by Senator John Cornyn, Republican Senate Majority Whip, and Senator Mark Warner, ranking member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
The current impasse in ties between India and Pakistan is unlikely to end soon given the fragile government in Islamabad, which is overshadowed by powerful military which heavily influences policies on Kashmir and Afghanistan, a top Pentagon official has said.
He warned that Pakistan-supported terrorist groups would continue to carry out attacks inside India.
Deputy director for the People's Liberation Army Office for International Military Cooperation Major General Huang Xueping held a video conference with his US counterpart Michael Chase last week.
According to Uighur sources, Pakistan had played an active role in bringing Turkey and China together despite the protests in Turkey last year over the suppression of the Uighurs.
The United States has said it supports a direct dialogue between India and Pakistan as outlined in the Shimla Agreement
The strategic alliance between China and Pakistan is primarily driven by their rivalry with India, eminent US experts have said, with one of them expressing concern over Sino-India border tensions.
'The BJP has done the Uri surgical strikes, handled the Dokalam crisis and the Balakot strikes.' 'So if there is a de-escalation only at the diplomatic level and not resolving this issue of a colonel being killed, then it translates into public anger.'
When a Chinese warship entered Japanese waters, the Indian commander called on China to maintain discipline at sea. Dr Rajaram Panda explains the significance of the Malabar exercises between India, Japan and the US.
As India's international role expands, so must our capabilities, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Gokhale and Pompeo expressed satisfaction over the significant progress and the quality of the India-US Strategic Partnership
India women's team sealed their qualification for the 2021 ODI World Cup following the cancellation of their Championship round against Pakistan with the BCCI not getting government clearance to play against their arch-rivals. The India vs Pakistan round was scheduled to take place between July and November last year but was always subject to government clearance. Both teams will share points for the cancelled three-match series.
'The emerging security environment in the Asia-Pacific is likely to revolve around China and the US with India viewed as a critical balancer in the region. New Delhi will now have to demonstrate that it is capable of thinking strategically.'
'India is possibly the most fiscally constrained market in the region.'
Indian Admirals say Malabar 2018 will involve unprecedented complexity, featuring enemy threats in all three dimensions, but especially underwater threats from submarines -- a key Chinese strength. For the first time, officers from all three navies will be posted on other navies' warships. That means Indian Navy officers will obtain the unprecedented benefits of operating on US nuclear attack submarines and Japan's highly regarded Soryu submarines.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday that India and China are going through a 'particularly bad patch' in their ties because Beijing has taken a set of actions in violation of agreements for which it still doesn't have a 'credible explanation' and it is for the Chinese leadership to answer where they want to take the bilateral relationship.
The highly-anticipated summit, which began early Tuesday, is the third engagement between Xi, 68, and Biden, 78, since February.
Both have been robustly muscular leaders who began as immensely charismatic politicians conveying an impression that they were makers of history, raring to go. Both have been hyperactive on the world stage. But in the final analysis, Abe is departing on a sombre note, unceremoniously and apologetically, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The Indian version is that the two top diplomats merely exchanged pleasantries, while the Pakistani side characterised the encounter as an 'informal dialogue'.' 'The truth, as always in such piquant situations, is somewhere in between.' 'It stands to reason that ice has been broken,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'This, together with Chinese revisionism, will constitute the major test of the international system.'
The US has been, historically, a sleeping partner in India-China relations. Today, any attempt by the Modi government to make a bilateral move to improve relations with Beijing could upset Biden's apple cart, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'If a 'two-front war' develops, Iron Brother may only turn out to be a drag on the PLA, since Pakistan is in no position to wage a war with India,' argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The world is finally recognising that China is pushing a form of government that many only now are beginning to recognise as problematic'
