India is key for stability in Indo-Pacific region, says outgoing US envoy

NEW DELHI:  The Indo-Pacific region needs a kind of stability that does not threaten the sovereignty of other countries, outgoing US Ambassador to India Kenneth I Juster said on Tuesday. “A strong and democratic India is an important partner to promote peace and prosperity.

The Indo-Pacific is particularly significant for US-India relationship because it recognises the reality that India and Indian Ocean are inextricably tied to East Asia and Pacific,” the US envoy said in his farewell address on Ambition and Achievement in the India-US Partnership. 

Kenneth added that the Indo-Pacific region comprises some of the fastest and largest growing economies in the world. “More than 50 per cent of international trade passes through its waters. The region is rich in natural resources and it is fast becoming the centre of gravity of the evolving international system. Indeed, the tectonic plates of that system have shifted, marked especially by the rise of China and more recently by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which has devastated health, the economy in the Indo-Pacific and elsewhere,” Juster said.

Without naming China and Pakistan, the US envoy said that it is unfortunate that some countries have resorted to military incursions while some have picked up suicide vests. Juster said that in the past four years, the US and India have shown the ambition to have a free and stable Indo-Pacific. “The concept of Indo-Pacific has been many years in the making. It is in the past four years that our countries have shown the ambition to turn it into reality,” he said. 

At the same time, the outgoing US ambassador mentioned that there remained “frictions and frustrations” in trade and investment ties with New Delhi. “But I would be less than candid if I did not note that there are also frictions and frustrations on the trade and investment front. Despite persistent efforts, we were unable to conclude even a small trade package,” said Juster.