Regional Responses to U.S.-China Competition in the Indo-Pacific : RAND : 9781977406507 : 1977406505 : 01 Jan 2000 : In long-term strategic competition with China, how effectively the United States works with allies and partners will be critical to determining U.S. success. This report examines the potential benefits of, and potential impediments to, partnering more closely with India. India is already a peer or near-peer competitor of China across a range of military capabilities, and India's self-defined core national security interests are in relatively close harmony with those of the United States. However, U.S. planners must be keenly aware of the constraints on both India's willingness and capacity to forge a partnership based on strategic competition with China. These include persistent aversion to any partnership that might be characterized as "alignment," evenafter a major 2020 border clash with China; significant distrust of U.S. commitment and intentions; a highly risk-avers