Tokyo, Oct 25 (ANI): US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said that the United States views Asia as its next big priority.
In his first trip to Japan as Defense Secretary, Panetta said that troop withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan will allow the Pentagon to shift more of its resources to Asia, signaling the administration's resolve to check China's rapid military buildup despite budget woes at home.
The Wall Street Journal quoted Panetta as saying that he did not expect American forces in Asia to face cuts in the coming round of belt-tightening. Officials said the Pentagon is looking at ways to expand the U.S.'s presence in the region, particularly across Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, by shifting resources from other areas.
The decision to shield U.S. forces in Asia from the coming budget cuts reflects what officials called a "strategic rebalancing" of strategic interests as the war in Iraq winds down.
The message is meant to reassure the Japanese, the South Koreans and other Asian leaders who worry about the impact of sweeping budget cuts on the ability of the Pentagon to maintain costly ground troops and carrier groups in the region.
It was also a message to the Chinese, whose military buildup and maritime assertiveness in the South China Sea has alarmed Washington and its regional partners, the paper said.
Washington currently has about 50,000 troops in Japan and an additional 28,500 in South Korea. The comment by Panetta is the clearest indication yet that American forces in Asia won't be scaled back.
In previous remarks he had spoken about wanting to "strengthen our presence."
"We are not anticipating any cutbacks in this region," Panetta told U.S. and Japanese troops at Yokota Air Base located west of on Tokyo. (ANI)
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