PRESS RELEASE

General Petraeus says ‘Indo-Pacific Command Not Just Symbolic, Very Very Substantive’

On 23rd July 2019, the Consulate General of New York hosted a conversation on Indo-Pacific as a part of their New India Lecture Series Season II. General David H Petraeus, former Director of CIA, during the conversation with Vikram J Singh of US India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), brought clarity on the construct of Indo-Pacific. He explained what Indo-Pacific means to the partners and said that the United States recently renamed the Pacific Command as Indo-Pacific Command underlining the growing importance of Indian subcontinent. Recent trade and security issues between significant trading countries have highlighted the importance of free trade and rules-based international order.

During the discussion, General Petraeus said that the most significant development of the decade is the rise of China. He said that though there is a greater degree of uncertainty in trajectories of trade debates, in coming years there are tremendous opportunities in China and India, and Asia is the future. In turn, he pointed out the significance of Indo-Pacific, an initiative of Australia, India and Japan, which was later joined by the US.

Relating to the US-China trade war, General Petraeus noted that for the first time there is an emergence of bipartisan consensus in the US that the actions of China are non-acceptable. While mentioning Dr. S Jaishankar’s remark that India will take a side- India’s side, General Petraeus said that there are implications of some decisions.

The conversation was followed by a Q&A where General Petraeus answered questions relating to US-Pakistan relations, the investment environment in growing markets, struggle against extremism, and the Iranian economy and sanctions.

While responding to a question relating to Pakistan, General Petraeus said that the US-Pakistan relationship has seen some “success” as well as “disappointing and frustrating periods”. Having experienced bilateral ties with Pakistan closely, as the Commander of US Central Command, he said that in his opinion not India but internal extremism is an existential threat to Pakistan.

On Afghanistan, the former US military officer said that the situation in Afghanistan is challenging and that he was hopeful that negotiation by Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad could help produce a peace agreement. The General also said that the fight against extremism is a generational struggle. He complimented the Afghan government for their courage and noted India’s continued developmental support to the Afghan government.

July 23, 2019

New York