Media Note
Ambassador Tina Kaidanow, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, will travel to Germany, Japan, India, and Singapore May 20-June 3, 2018.
In Germany, Ambassador Kaidanow will take part in the annual Chiefs of Mission Conference sponsored by U.S. European Command. Ambassador Kaidanow will update senior diplomats and military officials on steps the Bureau is taking to implement the Administration’s vision of strengthening U.S. allies and partners through improvements to U.S. defense trade regulation and government advocacy to expand opportunities for U.S. industry, drive innovation, and promote American manufacturing jobs.
In Japan, Ambassador Kaidanow will meet with senior officials to discuss a wide range of security and defense trade issues, and will hold a roundtable with representatives from Japanese defense manufacturers. For nearly 60 years, the U.S.-Japan Alliance has been the cornerstone of peace, stability, and freedom in the Indo-Pacific region, and decades of U.S. security cooperation have served to bolster Japan’s self-defense capabilities. Since 2013, Japan has contracted $14.9 billion in government-to-government purchases in U.S. equipment through the Foreign Military Sales system, as well as $14.4 billion in U.S. defense articles to Japan via the Direct Commercial Sales process.
In India, Ambassador Kaidanow will hold talks on defense trade and peacekeeping, which are among two key areas of the rapidly growing U.S.-India partnership as envisioned in the Administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy. U.S.-India bilateral defense trade has risen from near zero to $15 billion since 2008. India is projected to spend billions on military modernization over the next decade, and talks will focus on expanding our security cooperation while furthering opportunities for American industry.
In Singapore, Ambassador Kaidanow will join a delegation of senior U.S. officials led by Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis for the Shangri-La Dialogue, a forum for exchanges among defense and security policy professionals from across the Indo-Pacific region sponsored by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Ambassador Kaidanow will also meet with senior civilian and military officials from countries around the globe to discuss regional security, maritime security, and defense trade issues.
For further information, please contact the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Congressional and Public Affairs at PM-CPA@state.gov and follow @StateDeptPM on Twitter.
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