Indo- Pacific Strategy Report
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4.2. Line of Effort 2: Partnerships
U.S. engagement in the Indo-Pacific is rooted in our long-standing security alliances – the bedrock on
which our strategy rests. Mutually beneficial alliances and partnerships are crucial to our strategy,
providing a durable, asymmetric strategic advantage that no competitor or rival can match.
Expanding our interoperability with allies and partners will ensure that our respective defense
enterprises can work together effectively during day-to-day competition, crisis, and conflict. Through
focused security cooperation, information-
sharing agreements, and regular exercises, we
are connecting intent, resources, and
outcomes and building closer relationships
between our militaries and economies.
Increasing interoperability also involves
ensuring our military hardware and software
are able to integrate more easily with those of
our closest allies and partners, offering financing and sales of cutting-edge U.S. defense equipment to
security partners, and opening up the aperture of U.S. professional military education to more Indo-
Pacific military officers.
To this end, we have strengthened our alliances
with Japan, South Korea, Australia, the
Philippines, and Thailand. These alliances are
indispensable to peace and security in the region
and our investments in them will continue to pay
dividends for the United States and the world,
far into the future. We have also taken steps to
expand partnerships with Singapore, Taiwan,
New Zealand, and Mongolia. Within South
Asia, we are working to operationalize our Major
Defense Partnership with India, while pursuing
emerging partnerships with Sri Lanka, the
Maldives, Bangladesh, and Nepal. We are also
continuing to strengthen security relationships
with partners in Southeast Asia, including
Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia, and
sustaining engagements with Brunei, Laos, and
Cambodia. In the Pacific Islands, we are enhancing our engagement to preserve a free and open Indo-
Pacific, maintain access, and promote our status as a security partner of choice. Efforts to maintain a
free and open Indo-Pacific have also brought us closer to key allies, including the United Kingdom,
France, and Canada, each with their own Pacific identities.
“Our network of allies and
partners is a force multiplier for
peace and interoperability.”
- 2018 National Defense Strategy
The National Security Strategy calls on the
United States to pursue cooperation and
reciprocity together with our allies,
partners, and aspiring partners.
Cooperation means sharing responsibilities
and burdens. The United States expects
our allies and partners to shoulder a fair
share of the burden of responsibility to
protect against common threats. When we
pool resources and share responsibility for
our common defense, our security burden
becomes lighter and more cost-effective.