US, Australia to cooperate with India to ensure security and stability of Indo-Pacific
Australia on Saturday agreed to further cooperate with India, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines and Korea to ensure the security and stability of the Indo-Pacific at the 33rd Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN). Officials from the two countries on Saturday met in Brisbane.
The US delegation was led by Secretary of Defense, Lloyd J Austin, and Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. The Australian delegation included Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Penny Wong.
During the meeting, the two countries reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing interoperability with the militaries of the Pacific through a range of exercises. They welcomed Fiji, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Tonga's participation in Exercise TALISMAN SABRE 2023 for the first time, as well as India, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines as inaugural observers, according to a fact sheet released by the US Department of Defence.
The two countries welcomed progress under the AUKUS partnership (the trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) toward the Australian acquisition of a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability and the development of advanced capabilities to safeguard stability and security in the Indo-Pacific. Australia will initially buy three Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines (known by the common naval acronym SSN) from the USA.
These are likely to be second-hand boats from the US Navy (USN), plus there is an option for obtaining two more Virginia-class submarines should plans to build a new class of SSN-AUKUS boats be delayed. The SSN-AUKUS submarine will be largely based on a British SSN design, but with the
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