US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin on Wednesday met Australian and British ministers in Washington to discuss the Aukus pact.
The trilateral defence agreement, signed in September 2021, focuses "on enhancing regional stability and safeguarding a free and open Indo-Pacific, where conflicts are resolved peacefully and without coercion," the ministers said in a joint ststement.
Mr Austin said that the US, UK and Australia "more than ever" share a similar perspective on modern challenges facing the world.
“Aukus will enhance our shared ability to sustain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Richard Marles, arrived in Washington on Tuesday, holding meetings on regional concerns and the war in Ukraine.
“Just over a year ago Aukus was put in place, which speaks to, I think, a shared mission between our three countries to work together to pursue advanced military capability and do so at a time where the strategic circumstances faced by the world are as complex and precarious as really we’ve seen since the end of the Second World War,” Mr Marles said.
The ministers said the pact would "make a positive contribution to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region by enhancing deterrence".
They said they had reviewed progress on Australia's effort to acquire nuclear-powered submarines and the development of advanced capabilities.
“Since creating this trilateral security partnership, our defence forces, industries and scientific communities have been hard at work,” Mr Austin said.
US, UK and Australia announce joint security initiative — video
“Over the past 15 months, we’ve made great progress towards identifying a pathway for Australia to acquire conventionally armed and nuclear-powered submarines.
“Today on behalf of President [Joe] Biden, I want to reaffirm the US commitment to ensuring that Australia acquires this capability at the earliest possible date and in adherence with the highest non-proliferation standards.”
The move to form the pact angered France, which since 2016 had been in negotiations with Australia to build a fleet of 12 conventional diesel-electric submarines in a deal worth $90 billion.
The Aukus announcement led to Australia cancelling its contract with Paris, resulting in the loss of major investment and job opportunities for France.
France called the move a “stab in the back”, as secret negotiations had been taking place since earlier in the year, but Paris withdrew the angry statement in the weeks following the deal's announcement.
Nuclear bombers and submarines — in pictures
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A file picture taken in Brest harbor, western France, on September 21, 2004, shows the Vepr Russian nuclear submarine of the Project 971 Shchuka-B type, or Akula-class (Shark) by NATO classification , the same type as the Nerpa Russian nuclear submarine. Russia has handed over the nuclear-powered attack submarine Nerpa to India at a ceremony that followed more than two years of delays, a source in the naval chief of staff told ITAR-TASS today. AFP -
Russian Tupolev Tu-95 turboprop-powered strategic bombers fly above the Kremlin in Moscow, on May 5, 2015, during a rehearsal of the Victory Day parade. Russia will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany on May 9. AFP -
Handout file photo dated May 15, 2014 of A B-52 Stratofortress assigned to the 307th Bomb Wing, Barksdale Air Force Base, La., approaches the refueling boom of a KC-135 Stratotanker from the 931st Air Refueling Group, McConnell Air Force Base. The United States flew strategic bombers over the Persian Gulf on Wednesday for the second time this month, a show of force meant to deter Iran from attacking American or allied targets in the Middle East. U.S. Reuters -
A Russian Tupolev Tu-95 turboprop-powered strategic bomber flies above the Kremlin in Moscow, on May 7, 2015, during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade. A strategic bomber with seven people on board crashed in far eastern Russia on July 14 but its crew apparently managed to parachute out and a search for them was underway, the defence ministry said. AFP -
US President Donald Trump (L) and First Lady Melania Trump (2nd L) watch a B-52 bomber flyover during the 2020 Independence Day on the South Lawn of the White House. AFP -
An American B52 bomber takes off from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. Although there are no details about its mission or destination, recent activity at the base suggest that the eight aircraft were heading for Iraq. Reuters -
Crew members are seen on the USS Indiana, a nuclear powered United States Navy Virginia-class fast attack submarine, as it departs Port Canaveral in Florida on October 1, 2018, on its maiden voyage as a commissioned submarine. The nearly 380-foot-long USS Indiana was commissioned in a ceremony at Port Canaveral on September 29, 2018, and is the Navy's 16th Virginia-Class fast attack submarine. Getty Images
British Defence Minister Ben Wallace said he was glad Australia was “seeking to join that club of highly capable, some of the most complex machines on Earth” that would give the country “historic reach”.
“And we will do everything we can in our capability to help support, to get you that capability,” Mr Wallace said.
Mr Marles said his country was eager to take the “next step forward in galvanising our capabilities, our shared values and upholding the things that we all hold dear, whether that is freedom, democracy, freedom of navigation, the rule of law”.
The Aukus pact has largely been considered as a move to counter China's influence in the Indo-Pacific.
Beijing has been made uneasy by the pact, calling it an “irresponsible act” that would damage regional stability and intensify an arms race in the Indo-Pacific.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said after the announcement of the agreement that the three allies should “abandon their outdated Cold War zero-sum thinking” or risk “shooting themselves in the foot”.
