The United States intends to establish relations with the countries of the Pacific region and expand the scale of joint military exercises to counter the geopolitical influence of China, the commander of the U.S. land forces in the Pacific, General Charles Flynn, told Defense News.

According to him, NATO does not and will not exist in the region, which means that the task facing Washington becomes much more difficult, as there is a need to unite allies and partners into one mechanism.

As Flynn noted, work on this is being done mainly through military exercises in the region, such as Operation Pathways.

The U.S. general specified that the maneuvers are aimed at strengthening joint preparedness and increasing interoperability of the armed forces of different countries.

According to Defense News, the United States increased its presence at the U.S.-Indonesian military exercise Super Garuda Shield, part of Operation Pathways, in August of this year. According to Flynn, this is very important because it clearly proves allies and partners are united.