If all the world's a stage, and all the countries merely players, then the United States is certainly the one most keen on hogging the spotlight. To do so, it is busy fanning the flames of hotspots all around the world.

Seemingly not content with heightening tensions just in and around the Taiwan Straits with the widely condemned trip by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, the US is set to roil Asia by conducting a joint military exercise with India in Uttarakhand, which is just 95 kilometers from the Line of Actual Control along China-India border.

The two weeks of high-altitude military drills will reportedly run from Oct 14-31 as the 18th edition of "Yudh Abhyas", or "War Practice", a bilateral military exercise that began in 2005 and is conducted alternately in the two countries.
China and India have held three rounds of Corps Commander level talks this year and had multiple dialogues between high-level officials to de-escalate border tensions.

But it seems Washington cannot sit idle and let peace be fostered between China and its neighbors. After all, stirring up trouble and profiting from others' conflicts is an addiction it just cannot shake itself of. Since the end of World War II it has triggered at least 201 of 248 military conflicts in 153 countries and regions, at a heavy cost to other countries and their peoples.

In the outdated and narrow-minded zero-sum mindset of the US, another country's loss is its gain, and that is particular true of its perception of China-US relations. Yet its troublemaking is destined to come to nothing. To say the least, it would be dumb of New Delhi to act as another foot soldier of the superpower in Asia to advance Washington's strategic interests at its own expense of peace and stability at the border. While China is as firm as ever in its resolve to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity by all means. It is high time the US, with all its domestic ills to take care of, stopped poking around and getting others into trouble.

The author is a writer with China Daily.