Washington's counterpunch so far has been to rename PACOM -- the Pacific Command, which includes India, China, Mongolia, Southeast Asia, Australia, Antarctica, in fact, the entire Pacific Ocean -- as the "Indo-Pacific Command," thus flattering New Delhi. Most of all, the move aligns with the Indo-Pacific strategy deployed by the Quad -- US, India, Japan, Australia -- which is a barely disguised containment of the China follow-up mechanism to the Obama administration's pivot to Asia.
It's still unclear how the Trump administration might "punish" New Delhi for non-stop trading with Tehran. In the case of Russia -- also under sanctions -- pressure is relentless. India has been encouraged not to buy S-400 air defense systems from Russia. The excuse is not exactly subtle; that would "complicate interoperability" with US forces and "limit " the degree with which the United States will feel comfortable in bringing additional technology" into India, according to House Armed Services Committee chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas). New Delhi will announce its decision in October.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Qingdao, China, on June 9, will be the privileged arena to discuss all these issues. Russia, China, India and Pakistan, as full members, will be there, as well as Iran and Afghanistan as current observers and, inevitably, future members. It's clear that fellow SCO/BRICS members China, Russia and India will refuse to isolate Iran. And there's nothing the Indo-Pacific Command can do about it.
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