Wahyu Dwi Anggoro
IDXChannel - United States (US) Secretary of Defense Lloyd J Austin will depart next week for a trip to India, South Korea, and Indonesia.
As part of his ninth official visit to the Indo-Pacific region, Secretary Austin will travel to India to meet with his counterpart, Minster of Defense Rajnath Singh, to discuss expanding defense industrial cooperation, enhancing interoperability, and advancing innovation through the India-US Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X).
The Secretary and Minister Singh will also participate in the fifth 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue alongside Secretary of State Antony J Blinken and Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar.
"Following the Ministerial, Secretaries Blinken and Austin will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi," the US Department of Defense said in a media release on Thursday (2/11/2023).
Secretary Austin will then travel to South Korea for meetings with Minister of National Defense Shin Wonsik and other senior Korean leaders. He will also meet with US military commanders and service members on the Korean Peninsula, reaffirming the ironclad US extended deterrence commitment to South Korea.
Secretary Austin will then travel to Indonesia for the 10th ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM)-Plus.
While in Jakarta, he will conduct an ASEAN-United States Informal Meeting to discuss opportunities to expand ASEAN-US security cooperation, one year after the elevation of the ASEAN-US relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
"He will also meet with regional counterparts to express the United States’ deep commitment to working alongside allies and partners in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific," the Department stated.
"The Secretary’s fourth trip to the Indo-Pacific this year — and his ninth since becoming Secretary of Defense — comes as the United States, along with US allies and partners across the Indo-Pacific, continue to deliver historic momentum toward a shared regional vision for peace, stability, and prosperity," it concluded. (WHY)
