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 — its mutual security commitment — 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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