US President Joe Biden's 2023 budget proposal seeks around USD 1.8 billion to support a free and open Indo-Pacific region, an official document revealed on Monday.
"To support American leadership in defending democracy, freedom and security worldwide, the budget includes nearly USD 1.8 billion to support a free and open, connected, secure, and resilient Indo-Pacific region and the Indo-Pacific strategy, and USD 400 million for the Countering the People's Republic of China Malign Influence Fund," the budget proposal said.
The US is officially proposing USD 813.3 billion in defence and national security spending as part of his budget request for 2023, The Hill reported.
The request comes as the US looks to counter China and Russia.
"I'm calling for one of the largest investments in our national security in history, with the funds needed to ensure that our military remains the best-prepared, best-trained, best-equipped military in the world," Biden said in a statement.
"In addition, I'm calling for continued investment to forcefully respond to Putin's aggression against Ukraine with U.S. support for Ukraine's economic, humanitarian, and security needs," he added.
The USD 813.3 billion request is more than USD 31 billion, above the USD 782 billion in defence spending that was enacted in the USD 1.5 trillion government funding bill signed this month.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor