NEW DELHI: Army chiefs and senior officers from 30 countries including the United States met in India Tuesday to discuss threats facing the Asia-Pacific region, in the face of concern at an increasingly assertive China.

US Army chief Randy George said the region was “critically important”, speaking to reporters alongside his Indian counterpart Manoj Pande, and vowed to boost cooperation to “maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific”.

Generals from Japan and Australia, which make up the “Quad” defence cooperation forum alongside Washington and New Delhi, also took part, as did Britain and France.

As the generals met, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that Beijing would oppose the “wanton expansion of military alliances”, the latest in a string of warnings as Washington deepens security ties in the Asia-Pacific.

Beijing has long said that any effort to establish a NATO-like military alliance in the Asia-Pacific would provoke conflict.