torsdag 18. juni 2026

Why dropping ‘Indo-Pacific’ clarifies the Pentagon’s China strategy

On June 16, the US Department of Defense announced that the US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) will officially revert to its previous name, the US Pacific Command (PACOM).

The move reverses a decision made during President Donald Trump’s first term to include “Indo” in the name of its largest combatant command. This publication reported in June 2018 that the original change “highlights the increasing significance of India in Washington’s strategic thinking and also marks India’s re-entry into the American government’s ‘Asia Nexus.’”

As much as New Delhi may protest, this change signals the opposite: the decreasing significance of India in Washington’s strategic thinking – and its exit from the American government’s “Asia Nexus.”