The US says extraordinary growth of Asian giants India and China in the past few decades has been mainly due to the 60 years of relative peace and stability in Asia. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for East Asia policy Michael Schiffer said there had been some significant disruptions to that peace in the region during this period, but on balance, it had been a period of remarkable stability and prosperity. He was speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a Washington-based think tank. Schiffer stressed on the need to maintain this peace in the continent that is home to almost half of the world's population. He said the rise of Asia was perhaps the salient and central geo-strategic fact of the 21st century. Schiffer said, by most measures the Asia-Pacific region was the most important and dynamic region in the world today and likely to become more so as this century continues to unfold.