The strengthening of working relationships with emerging Asian powers like India and Indonesia would form the second element of the United States's rebalancing policy, according to Ms Meera Shankar, former Indian Ambassador to the United States.
The strengthening of working relationships with emerging Asian powers like India and Indonesia would form the second element of the United States’s rebalancing policy, according to Ms Meera Shankar, former Indian Ambassador to the United States.
Delivering a talk on the role of United States in the Asia-Pacific at Observer Research Foundation in Mumbai on October 5, 2012, Ms Meera Shankar said US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has hinted at the inclusion of China also in such a dialogue.
As part of the effort, the US is committed to building a strategic partnership with India and supporting its look-east policy. The policy will also look at greater economic integration in central and South Asia with India as the fulcrum of the strategy, she said.
Ms. Meera Shankar pointed out that strengthening of relations with traditional allies like Japan, Australia, Philippines, Thailand and South Korea was one medium through which the US planned to further its rebalancing policy. For example, she said, the US has already revamped their relations with Japan and has strengthened intelligence sharing and surveillance including that in the building of ballistic missile defences.
She also gave the example of Australia, with which the US finalised a new agreement for intensifying training and joint exercises, as well as the rotation of up to 2500 marines at Darwin base in Australia. With respect to South Korea, a Fair Trade Agreement that had been pending in the Congress for a long time had recently been ratified by the Obama administration.
With respect to Japan and South Korea, while there were many questions about the increasing US military presence, one can discern a change in public sentiment, that is now more welcoming of the renewed US military commitment, she noted.
The US has also worked on a new agreement with the Philippines for the training of Special Forces for terrorist combat. These forces would have access to the Subic Bay and Clark air bases in the Philippines. Further, the ambassador informed the audience of a US-initiated forward deployment of US combats littoral ships in Singapore on a rotational basis.
The talk was part of the joint initiative between Public Diplomacy, Ministry of External Affairs, and Observer Research Foundation Mumbai. The talk was chaired by Mr. Sudheendra Kulkarni, who highlighted the importance of a discussion on American foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific region.
Role of US in the Asia Pacific
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