US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu on Friday said that the US is deeply concerned that Chinese loans to countries in India’s immediate neighborhood may be used for coercive leverage. “And we are talking to India, talking to countries of the region about how we help countries to make their own decisions and not decisions that might be compelled by any outside partner, including China, ” he added. This came after Pakistan received a deposit of $700 million from the China Development Bank.