Noting that the United States has elevated its ties with India across the board, President Barack Obama has welcomed New Delhi’s growing role in the Asia-Pacific, a region with which Washington is more deeply engaged than it has been in decades.
“We’ve elevated our ties with India across the board, and we welcome India’s growing role in the Asia Pacific,” Obama said in laos, where he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are both attending the ASEAN and East Asia Summits.
“I’ve worked to rebalance our foreign policy so the United States is playing a larger and long-term role in the Asia Pacific region. We’ve strengthened our alliances,” he said, noting: “We’ve sent a clear message that, as a Pacific nation, we’re here to stay. In good times and bad, you can count on the United States of America.”
Against the backdrop of the Chinese push on South China Sea, Obama strongly reiterated that across the region, including in the East and South China Seas, the United States will continue to fly and sail and operate wherever international law allows. And it will support the right of all countries to do the same.
“We will stand with our allies and partners in upholding fundamental interests, among them freedom of navigation and overflight, lawful commerce that’s not impeded, and peaceful resolution of disputes. That’s the security that we seek,” he said.
Obama touched upon the US’s new defence guidelines with Japan, noting that the two countries will do even more together to uphold regional security. He also spoke of the expanded US collaboration with South Korea, including on missile defense to counter North Korean threats.
“To keep the peace and deter aggression, we’ve deployed more of our most advanced military capabilities to the region, including ships and aircraft to Singapore,” he said, adding that by the end of the decade, a majority of the US’s and Air Force fleets will be based out of the Pacific. “Our allies and partners are collaborating more with each other as well. So our alliances and defense capabilities in the Asia Pacific are as strong as they’ve ever been.”