Monitoring Desk
LONDON: The leaders of the United States (US), Britain, and Australia will meet in the US next week to discuss foreign policy and security, the British Prime Minister’s office said on Wednesday, ahead of an expected nuclear submarine agreement aimed at countering China’s increasing assertiveness in the Pacific.
After eighteen months of talks, Australia is expected to reveal plans to obtain 8 nuclear-powered submarines, in what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has termed the single biggest leap in defense capability in Australia’s history.
The agreement is part of the fledgling regional security accord between Australia, the UK, and the US, known as AUKUS.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman told journalists that the premier would be in the US on Monday for talks on AUKUS with President Joe Biden and the Australian Prime Minister.
Efforts to arm Australia’s military
He added that the British government will also that day release an update to its so-called “Integrated Review” of defense, and security.
The UK has insisted the new defense deal was not intended to be adversarial towards any other country. But it has been seen as a Western response to worries about China’s increasing influence in the Pacific and the pace and size of its military expansion.
Since September 2021, behind-the-curtains talks have been taking place between the AUKUS allies about how to equip Australia’s forces with sensitive nuclear-propulsion technology.
