The islands nations of the Pacific play a critical role in the U.S. strategic vision for the Indo-Pacific region, said Siddharth Mohandas, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia.
Mohandas testified before the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee on the national security implications of the Compacts of Free Association with the Republic of Palau, the Federal States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Speaking alongside witnesses from the State and Interior departments, he told the committee that the compacts are proof to the nations that the U.S. commitment to them is “ironclad.”
Source : defence.gov
