The U.S. government should develop a coherent and coordinated strategy for South Asia and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The United States has a number of vital interests at stake in the region that includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the vast Indian Ocean. Perhaps most important, the region has become an increasingly vital theater of competition with China, which poses a direct threat to the security and prosperity of the United States and our allies.