The United States Defense Minister Is Scheduled To Visit 3 Indo-Pacific Countries, Including Indonesia
JAKARTA - The Minister of Defense (Menhan) of the United States (US) Lloyd J. Austin III is scheduled to visit India, South Korea, and Indonesia next week.
The news of Lloyd's ninth official visit to the Indo-Pacific area was delivered in a US Department of Defense media notice received from the US Embassy in Jakarta on Friday, November 3.
Austin will visit India to meet with Defense Minister Rajnath Singh to discuss expanding defense industry cooperation, increasing interoperability, and advancing innovation through the India-US Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) program.
Austin and Singh will also attend the fifth 2+2 Ministerial Level Dialogue with US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar.
After a ministerial meeting, Blinken and Austin will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Austin then visited South Korea to meet Defense Minister Shin Wonsik and other senior South Korean leaders, including attending the 55th annual Security Consultative Meeting and the first meeting of the Minister of Defense of Countries for Members of the South Korean-PBB Command.
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Austin will also meet with the US military on the Korean Peninsula, to reaffirm US commitments to prevent attacks on South Korea.
Austin then visited Indonesia to attend the 10th ASEAN Minister of Defense Meeting (ADMM)-Plus.
While in Jakarta, he will hold an ASEAN-United States Informal Meeting to discuss expanding ASEAN-US security cooperation, after the status of the husband and husband was upgraded to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Austin will convey the United States' deep commitment to working with its allies and partners in supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Austin's visit comes as the United States and its allies and Indo-Pacific partners continue to strive to maintain historic momentum towards a common vision of the region for peace, stability and prosperity, the US Department of Defense said.