US Defense Secretary Flies Out for Security Talks With Asian Countries

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter began a ten-day trip on Wednesday to visit Singapore, Vietnam and India to seek ways to strengthen regional security cooperation, US Department of Defense spokesperson Steve Warren said.

WASHINTON (Sputnik) — The trip will be Carter's second visit to the Asia-Pacific region since becoming defense secretary in February 2015, and his second to the region in two months, the report said.

Warren noted that Carter would hold discussions with the defense ministers of the three countries to help develop a strong regional security architecture.

The expanded regional security structure, he added, would be inclusive, transparent and based on international law.

“Carter will reaffirm the US rebalance to the Asia-Pacific,” Warren said according to a Department of Defense News report published on Wednesday.

US defense officials, speaking on anonymity, told the News that Carter wanted to build trust and help address the regional security challenges.

Warren also said Carter would seek out new areas of defense cooperation as part of the “next phase of the [US] rebalance [to Asia].”

Carter's first stop would be Honolulu, Hawaii to attend change-of-command ceremonies for US Pacific Command and US Pacific Fleet, Warren said.