Hawaii [US], October 2 (ANI): Amid heightened Chinese aggression, Australia and the US reaffirmed their “unwavering commitment” to a free and open Indo-Pacific, saying all nations within the area are “free to choose their own destinies”.
In a joint press convention with Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles Saturday (native time), US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin mentioned, “We are deeply concerned by China’s aggressive, escalatory, and destabilising military activities in the Taiwan Strait and elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific.”Austin held a Trilateral Defence Ministers Meeting (TDMM) with Marles and Japanese Minister of Defence Hamada Yasukazu in Hawaii on Saturday and known as out China’s aggressive behaviour within the Indo-Pacific area.
“We (the US, JapanAustralia) remain focused on maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific,” mentioned Austin.
Stressing the significance of the alliance system within the Indo-Pacific area, the US Defence Secretary mentioned, “US and Australia have long-standing ties, trust and friendship. We are both deeply dedicated to freedom and democracy. We also share an unwavering commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. In this region, all countries are free to choose their own destinies, where states respect international law and disputes are resolved peacefully without coercion or intimidation. They are the foundation of our unbreakable alliance.”Further, the worldwide, rules-based order is predicated on the concept that nations ought to respect worldwide legal guidelines and resolve disputes peacefully.
“These shared convictions run deep, and they are the foundation of our unbreakable alliance,” mentioned Austin.
“The region and the world face a growing challenge from autocratic countries attempting to change the status quo through threats, coercion and provocative military activities and even naked aggression,” he mentioned.
Austin and Marles mentioned the steps wanted to boost deterrence and strengthen safety within the Indo-Pacific.
“We talked about enhancing our interoperability and expanding our operations and advancing our on-going posture, force posture initiatives,” mentioned Austin.
Marles mentioned the 2 leaders talked about methods to deepen defence industrial base cooperation.
They additionally spoke about Australia, the UK and the US trilateral safety pact that may pave the best way for Australia to accumulate nuclear submarine expertise and for the three nations to cooperate on different superior applied sciences.
Marles thanked all these concerned in engaged on the pact and mentioned Australia remains to be on observe to announce the best way ahead on the submarine acquisition course of within the first a part of 2023.
He mentioned his nation additionally sees more and more aggressive Chinese efforts to “seek to shape the world around it in a way that we have not seen before.”The freedom of navigation within the East China Sea, the South China Sea, and round Taiwan is “fundamentally important to Australia’s national interests,” he mentioned.
Both leaders mentioned the US Marine Corps rotation to Darwin, Australia, “but we want to look at other ways in which we can build upon American force posture and doing that in cooperation with Australia,” Marles mentioned.
He mentioned on the coronary heart of the assembly is the strategic alignment between the US and Australia. This has at all times been the case, “but has never been greater than it is right now,” he mentioned.
The US-Australia alliance is one a part of the US alliance community.
“Our allies and partners bring significant capability, and — not only in terms of what they bring to the fight, but the access, basing rights — all of those things contribute to our overall effort,” Austin mentioned. “Quite frankly, it’s what our adversaries worry about most — our ability to work together with like-minded partners and allies. That really magnifies our warfighting capability,” Marles mentioned.
Alliances and partnerships are vital to deterrence. “That’s why you’ve seen us work hard to strengthen partnerships and alliances in the region,” he mentioned.
Marles additionally commented on the significance of alliances. “Our alliance with the United States is completely central to our national security and to our world view, and the alliance has never been more important than it is now,” he mentioned, including the overwhelming majority of Australians assist the treaty with the US.
Marles mentioned the US system of alliances is profoundly important. “It is the ‘edge,’ and it matters deeply,” he mentioned. “It matters deeply in terms of providing security.”Following the assembly, Austin invited the deputy prime minister to the Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, submarine docks the place they toured the USS Mississippi. The Mississippi is a nuclear-powered, fast-attack submarine that is armed with cruise missiles, in accordance with a US Department of Defence press launch. (ANI)