U.S. Says Australia ‘Critical Pillar’ In Asia Pivot
Posted on February 3, 2013
Australia is a “critical pillar” in the US pivot to Asia and the rebalancing of its military strategy, the region’s most senior American commander told reporters Friday.
Chief of US Pacific Command (PACOM) Samuel Locklear speaking in a teleconference from Hawaii, said the key US ally was vital in the world order that is emerging for the 21st Century.
Locklear said the challenges the US faced included climate change, maritime security, disaster relief and cyber security.
“All those things I view from the PACOM headquarters here, Australia is a critical pillar of the strategy we have here,” Locklear said.
“When… I go down to Canberra and I sit and I look at the world map from Australia being in the centre of it, I get a very different view than I get from Hawaii or from Washington DC….and I start to have a sense of the things of the security environment that concerned people of Australia as well as people in Indonesia, in India and other countries.”
Locklear said seen from this perspective, the Indian Ocean is a vital strategic region that cannot be thought of separately from the Asia-Pacific.
Read more at: http://news.xin.msn.com/en/regional/us-says-australia-critical-pillar-in-asia-pivot