US and Australia vow to strengthen defense alliance

Asia-Pacific, News, US December 7, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin met with Australia’s Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Richard Marles on December 5, 2022, at the Pentagon, Washington DC.

Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister arrived in the U.S. for a three-day defense discussion with his American and British counterparts. Marles and Austin will be joined by U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace as the three leaders discuss Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States security pact.

“Today, we’re focused on ambitious steps to further strengthen our unbreakable alliance,” Austin said to Marles at the beginning of the meeting. He noted that the two countries are closely aligned on important strategic challenges and opportunities. “I think it’s safe to say that the alliance between the United States and Australia is stronger than it’s ever been, and it remains vital to regional security,” Austin said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Austin said that the United States and Australia “share a common vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific,” and both countries “seek a region where all countries are free to chart their own course; where all states adhere to international rules; and where all disputes are resolved peacefully and free from coercion.” He stressed that “Now, we’re meeting at a time of tension… especially from Russia’s reckless and lawless invasion of Ukraine, as well as from coercive and destabilizing military activities by the People’s Republic of China. But the United States and Australia are stepping up to support the rules-based international order.”

The two defense leaders discussed a range of issues including deepening bilateral security cooperation. Apart from discussing the Indo-Pacific security challenges and the AUKUS deal, they also spoke about their growing trilateral cooperation with Japan.

Austin and Marles also discussed ongoing cooperation with India through the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue that encompasses the U.S., Australia, Japan, and India. This is the second meeting between Marles and Austin in one month. The two defense leaders met during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Defense Ministers Meeting-Plus in Cambodia 10 days ago.

^{Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, and Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Richard Marles stand for a photo during a bilateral exchange at the Pentagon on December 5, 2022. (Image Credit: U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Alexander Kubitza/DoD)}

During the meeting, Marles stressed the strategic landscape is “as complex as it has been, really, since the end of the Second World War.” He also said that “We feel there is a very strong alignment between our two governments right now,” Marles said. “We’re really looking forward to an ambitious agenda.”

Marles also said that he is looking forward to the upcoming trilateral meeting. He said that “we are meeting at a time when the strategic landscape we face, collectively by Australia, the United States, and the world really is as complex and precarious it’s been at any point really since the end of the second world war.”

Upcoming trilateral meetings between the defense officials from U.S., UK, and Australia would be a major milestone in the growing trilateral defense partnership of the three countries. Since UK’s exit from the European Union, the three countries have come closer to forging one of the strongest defense partnerships that resulted in the AUKUS deal where the U.S. and UK would help Australia to attain nuclear-powered submarines in order to counter China’s increasing naval influence in the Indo-Pacific region.