Resolution passed reaffirming importance of US partnerships in Indo-Pacific

A powerful Senate committee has passed a resolution reaffirming the importance of America's alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region, including with India.

The United States greatly values other partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region, including with India, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, New Zealand, and Vietnam, said the resolution introduced by Senators Robert Menendez and Jim Risch.

Menendez is the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, while Risch is its ranking member.

The resolution passed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday reaffirms the enduring commitment of the United States to treaty allies in the Indo-Pacific region and NATO, as well as to other partners, including its treaty obligations for mutual defence. It now moves to the Senate floor.

Emphasising the primary importance of the United States' relationships, alliances, and partnerships to global peace and prosperity, the resolution welcomed and sought to advance the continued collaboration of the United States and its allies and partners to respect and defend the rules-based international order and the values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law that undergird common security and prosperity.

The resolution calls on the Biden administration to ensure that the United States' policy and posture reflect the requirements of extended deterrence to preserve non-proliferation benefits, assure allies, and to deter, and if necessary, respond, across the spectrum of nuclear and non-nuclear scenarios in defence of allies and partners.

It also supports maintaining robust diplomatic, economic, and defence budgets as critical to advancing cooperation with allies and partners on shared challenges.

The resolution asks all members of NATO, including the United States, to devote significant energy to the development of a new, forward-looking strategy to replace the 2010 Strategic Concept and focus on the many emerging challenges that face the alliance, including China, Russia, and instability on Europe's southern border.

It reaffirms the commitment of the United States to strengthening and boosting its alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, including to contend China's growing power projection capabilities and use of coercive and grey-zone tactics, and to jointly develop, regulate, and monitor the production, use, and protection of strategic and emerging technologies.

Underscoring that alliances have enhanced mutual security by jointly sharing common defence, including the defence of the United States, and that strong alliances and partnerships generate decisive and sustained United States military advantages, the resolution encourages dealing constructively with significant tensions in the United States' alliance relationships to ensure they do not create fissures that adversaries can exploit.