But the Biden administration may need more clarity in its Indo-Pacific strategy, which it says will be released in the fall, with the recent launch of the three-way partnership dubbed "AUKUS" triggering a huge diplomatic rift with the oldest US ally France, and questions raised over how the two coalitions will evolve.

"While there may have been some strategic thinking to link European allies and Asian allies through AUKUS, if you end up angering a very important pillar in the region, France, I must say no holistic strategy existed there," said Michito Tsuruoka, an associate professor at Japan's Keio University with expertise on international security and European politics.

The Sept. 15 announcement of the AUKUS partnership, which included an agreement to help Canberra acquire a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, was clearly one of the highlights during the Biden administration's months-long efforts to rally allies and like-minded countries to counter China's growing assertiveness.

But the move quickly spiraled into a diplomatic crisis. France, which lost a multibillion-dollar submarine contract with Australia as a result, reacted furiously, calling the announcement "a stab in the back" by Washington and recalling its ambassadors to the United States and Australia.

Tsuruoka said it is important to note that France's outrage was not just stemming from the economic damage incurred from the cancellation of the contract, but also from the sense of having been "excluded" from the new Indo-Pacific alliance, even though Paris has served as a key driver for broader European engagement in the region.

France is the only European Union member with overseas territories in the Indo-Pacific, such as Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean and New Caledonia in the Pacific.

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