KATHMANDU: The United States, in the Indo-Pacific Strategy Report, has stated that it seeks to expand defense relationship with Nepal under the Indo-Pacific Strategy.
“The United States seeks to expand our defense relationship with Nepal, focused on HA/DR, peacekeeping operations, defense professionalization, ground force capacity, and counter-terrorism,” reads the report published by US Department of Defense.
The report states that that the growing defense partnership can be seen in the establishment of the U.S. Army Pacific-led Land Forces Talks in June 2018, adding that this year has seen several senior-level visits to Nepal by the USINDOPACOM Commander and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia in an attempt to advance defense relationship.
The Indo-Pacific region contributes two-thirds of global growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) and accounts for 60 percent of the global GDP.
This region includes the world’s largest and leading economies- the United States, China and Japan, India and five of the world’s fastest-growing economies – Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal and the Philippines.
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