Protecting a Free and Open Indo-Pacific: Strengthening the Trilateral Relationship

On February 19, Hudson Institute hosted a public conference on the importance of trilateral cooperation between the U.S., India, and Japan for the future prosperity and security of the Indo-Pacific Region. Panelists included Nobukatsu Kanehara, deputy secretary general of the National Security Secretariat & assistant chief cabinet secretary for the government of Japan; Tom Rose, senior advisor & chief strategist for the Office of the Vice President of the United States; Vice Admiral (ret.) Shekhar Sinha, a former commander-in-chief of India’s Western Naval Command; and Hudson Institute’s Lewis Libby, Michael Pillsbury, Patrick Cronin, and Arthur Herman. From naval exercises in the South China Sea to the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s increasingly aggressive military and economic strategies threaten the liberal order of the Indo-Pacific. In response, leaders of the U.S., Japan, and India are finding common ground over the need for a “free and open Indo-Pacific” to preserve regional independen