US President Joe Biden promoted the need for multilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region during a virtual meeting the leaders of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries, the White House said on Friday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2021) US President Joe Biden promoted the need for multilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region during a virtual meeting the leaders of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries, the White House said on Friday.
"Biden emphasized the importance of multilateral cooperation and reiterated his commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," the White House said in a press release.
Biden talked about opportunities to increase the economic strength of the Indo-Pacific countries and deepening US trade ties to the region, the release said.
The United States is increasingly concerned with China's growing military power in the Indo-Pacific region and strives to scale up its presence there. In June, media reported that the US Defense Department was mulling a deployment of a permanent naval task force in the Pacific.
The APEC platform was founded in 1989 and convenes 21 countries linked to the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.
