US Secretary of Defense James Mattis (R) and his Thai counterpart Prawit Wongsuwon (Source: sofrep.com)
Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand and the US have pledged to work more closely together to foster security in the Indo-Pacific region.
The commitment was made between US Secretary of Defense James Mattis and his Thai counterpart Prawit Wongsuwon during their meeting at the Pentagon on April 25.
Mattis said the US recognised Thailand as a focal point for carrying out plans to support Washington’s new strategies in the region.
The closer cooperative ties between the US and Thai armies will back the US’s new strategy of building a free and open Indo-Pacific region, he added.
For his part, Prawit assured the US that Thailand will work closely with Washington in air force and navy-related initiatives, including Maritime Domain Awareness and Movement Coordination Centre-Pacific.
Thailand and the US are expected to sign a new military cooperation agreement, namely Master Information Exchange Agreement, to support joint military research and development between the two countries.
Minister Prawit is on a visit to the US from April 21-27.-VNA
