The United States sees India as a “critical power” and wants a stronger partnership with New Delhi, a senior Pentagon official has said, rejecting suggestions that restoring the name Pacific Command signals diminished US attention to India or the Indian Ocean.
Under Secretary of War for Policy, Elbridge A. Colby, said the change from INDOPACOM to PACOM reflected Washington’s military focus on the Western Pacific and the first island chain.
Under Secretary of War for Policy, Elbridge A. He cited his March visit to India and visits by other senior US administration officials as evidence of continuing engagement.
Colby, said the change from INDOPACOM to PACOM reflected Washington’s military focus on the Western Pacific and the first island chain. “We really see India as a critical power, and the Indian Ocean, of course, is very important,” he said. He said that the United States viewed India as a vital relationship with the potential for a natural partnership, even though the two countries would not always agree. “If anything, we really see India as a vital relationship where there’s a natural partnership,” Colby said. Colby said the revised command name was linked to US strategic priorities set out in its national security and defence strategies.
