Brussels ¨C As the United States steps up its security engagement in the Indo-Pacific, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte expects the military alliance to also ramp up engagement by supporting Washington in ¡°projecting collective power¡± into the strategically important region as threats become increasingly interconnected.
While NATO has no plans to extend Article 5 ¡ª its mutual security commitment ¡ª to Asia, ¡°the U.S. wants NATO to be more involved (in the region) ... in a sense of projecting power,¡± Rutte told The Japan Times ahead of a planned trip to Japan on Tuesday and Wednesday, his first to the Indo-Pacific since taking office last October.
¡°When it comes to NATO as an alliance becoming more involved in the Indo-Pacific, there is general agreement on this,¡± the chief of the 32-member alliance said in an exclusive interview. He did not offer further details of what this would entail.
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