US, UK, Australia Announce Defense Pact to Deepen Cooperation in Indo-Pacific

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th September, 2021) The United States, United Kingdom and Australia entered a newly-created defense pact designed to strengthen their cooperation against mutual challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, US President Joe Biden said.

"We need to be able to address both the current strategic environment in the region and how it may evolve," Biden said on Wednesday during a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

The Australia-UK-US partnership (AUKUS) launches an 18-months initiative to deepen cooperation and defense capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region.

Morrison said the first major initiative of the trilateral pact will be to deliver a nuclear-powered submarine fleet to Australia. However, Morrison emphasized that Australia is not seeking to acquire nuclear weapons or to establish a civil nuclear capability.

Biden clarified that the fleet of submarines for Australia will not be nuclear-armed, but conventionally armed and run by nuclear reactors.

The United States will continue to work with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the Quad) to build a free and open Indo-Pacific region, Biden noted.

Earlier on Wednesday, a senior Biden administration official told reporters that the defense pact is not aimed at any specific country, but is about advancing the partners' strategic interests and promoting stability in the Indo-Pacific.

"I think it will be an opportunity for each of them to lay out their vision for the future and indicate the launch of this 18-months effort," the official said.

The official repeatedly refrained from conveying that the AUKUS pact is aimed at China.