The United States has denied any plans to establish the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the Indo-Pacific region. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin made the announcement during his visit to India on Monday. He said that his country will continue to work with like-minded nations to ensure that the region remains free and open for commerce and ideas to be exchanged. The announcement was made in response to China’s warning against NATO-like military alliances in the Asia-Pacific. Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu had cautioned that such alliances would only lead to conflict and disputes in the region.
Austin also talked about the misadventures that may take place in the India-China Line of Actual Control (LAC) and said that he hoped such incidents would not occur. He emphasized the importance of communication among the great powers and nations to prevent incidents from escalating out of control. Austin arrived in India on Sunday and is currently on a four-nation visit, with Japan and Singapore as his previous stops.
During his visit to India, Austin met with Union Minister Rajnath Singh and concluded a roadmap for Defence Industrial Cooperation. This initiative aims to identify opportunities for co-development of new technologies, co-production of existing and new systems, and facilitate increased collaboration between defence start-up ecosystems of the two countries.
The United States continues to strengthen ties with its allies in the region and believes that close cooperation and communication among nations is key to maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
