The United States commitment to Asia remains will not diminish despite President Barack Obama's absence from regional summits amid US shutdown, Secretary of State John Kerry has said.
Kerry made the comment at the start of the Apec summit in Indonesia, as Obama cancelled his Asia trip after the partial US government shutdown.
According to the BBC, the US government closed non-essential operations after Congress failed to agree a new budget.
As world leaders gathered for the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit in Bali, Kerry sought to allay concerns that Washington was reducing its global engagement.
He said that what is happening in Washington will not diminish one iota of the US commitment to partners in Asia.
He said the dispute with the Republicans in the US Congress was an example of the robustness of democracy in the United States.
But at the same time, he urged Congress to think about how the US was perceived internationally when 'the country cannot get its own act together'.
The White House said Obama's decision to cancel his Asia trip was made due to the 'difficulty in moving forward with foreign travel in the face of a shutdown', the report added.
