President Obama talks with Indian Prime Minister Modi Narendra at a summit meeting in Vientiane, Laos.
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Welcoming Indias growing role in the Asia-Pacific region, the United States has said it will continue to work with other countries in the region for “addressing political and security challenges”.
Barack Obama likes to call himself America’s first “Pacific” President, and by all accounts wants to be remembered that way.
President Barack Obama said on Tuesday his push to rebalance US foreign policy to focus more on Asia was not “a passing fad” of his presidency and, in a clear reference to China, said bigger countries should not dictate to smaller ones.
However some argue the U.S. rebalance, also dubbed “pivot”, to the world’s fastest growing region is “half-measured”, given Obama’s reluctance to use military leverage as part of diplomacy and uncertainties about the fate of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a pending Pacific free trade deal and a major pillar of the rebalance policy, amid rising populist forces in the United States election cycle. And our allies and partners are collaborating more with each other as well. “So our alliances and defence capabilities in the Asia Pacific are as strong as theyve ever been”, he said.
“I recognize this raises tensions but I also look forward to discussing how we can constructively move together to lower tensions and promote diplomacy and regional stability”, Obama said.
The U.S.is also sending tens of millions in maritime security aid to Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. He said, USA is opposing violent extremism, and addressing environmental degradation. “And as part of our new strategic partnership with ASEAN, weve agreed to key principles, including that ASEAN will remain central to peace, prosperity and progress in the Asia Pacific”, Obama said.
“If the next president is unable to moderate China’s behaviour and unwilling to risk upsetting relations with Beijing to send a stronger message, then Mr. Obama’s legacy will be an ironic one as the president who made Asia a priority, only to have squandered his country’s position”, Auslin wrote in the September 1 edition of the Wall Street Journal.
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“Our two governments continue to have serious differences in important areas”.
