*UNITED STATES: The Pentagon is renaming its oldest and largest militarycommand to reflect the growing importance of the Indian Ocean in USstrategic thinking, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Wednesday.*
From now on, the storied US Pacific Command, or PACOM, which was formedafter World War II, will be known as the Indo-Pacific Command.
The name change is largely symbolic for now, and won´t immediately resultin any shifts in the command´s boundaries or assets across the vast areastretching from the western part of India to America´s Pacific coastline.
“In recognition of the increasing connectivity between the Indian andPacific Oceans, today we rename the US Pacific Command to US Indo-PacificCommand,” Mattis said in Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
“Over many decades this command has repeatedly adapted to changingcircumstance and today carries that legacy forward as America focuses west.”
The name change is part of Washington´s efforts to counter China´s growinginfluence across the Asia-Pacific domain, even though critics say PresidentDonald Trump has ceded considerable regional leadership.
Trump has pulled the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership(TPP) agreed in 2015 by a dozen nations that accounted for 40 percent ofthe global economy.
The remaining 11 countries are moving forward with the deal withoutWashington, leaving America with a diminished say on regional trade rulesand creating an opening for Beijing.
*New commander*
Recent years have seen China emerge as a major regional power.
In 2017, it opened its first overseas naval base in Djibouti and hasstrengthened ties with several regional countries including Pakistan, SriLanka and the Maldives.
And Beijing is pursuing its “Belt and Road” global infrastructureinitiative that invests in Southeast Asian countries but which US criticssay is based on “predatory” economics.
“The Indo-Pacific has many belts and many roads,” Mattis said.
“America continues to invest vigorously in Indo-Pacific stability,bolstering the free and open rules-based international order.”
Mattis was in Hawaii for a ceremony marking the departure of Admiral HarryHarris as PACOM´s head. He has been nominated to be ambassador to SouthKorea and is being replaced by Admiral Philip Davidson.
Mattis in February unveiled the US National Defense Strategy which madeclear America will focus on Asia in the context of China´s growing militarymight.
China “seeks Indo-Pacific regional hegemony in the near term anddisplacement of the United States to achieve global preeminence in thefuture,” Mattis wrote.
Pentagon officials say the command´s new name also recognizes India´sgrowing role in providing regional security and forces military thinkers toconsider the broader region.
The Pentagon chief visited India in September in an effort to furtherstrengthen growing military ties, saying at the time that the world´slargest democracy is “clearly a pillar of regional stability and security.”
In 2016 the United States designated India a “Major Defense Partner” withthe aim of improving military cooperation, increasing information-sharingand cutting red tape to ease defense deals. -APP/AFP