ANKARA, April 9 – Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday said there is no plan to expand the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), and Australia trilateral AUKUS military pact beyond the three countries.
His statement came after the American, British and Australian defence ministers said they were considering cooperation with Japan on AUKUS Pillar II advanced capability projects, part of the security agreement focusing on technology such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
“We are focused on the relationship with our AUKUS partnership. To be very clear, AUKUS, there is no plan to expand AUKUS beyond the three countries,” Anadolu Agency (AA) quoted Albanese as saying to reporters in Canberra.
“When it comes to Pillar II, what we’ll look at is, project by project, the desirability of further engagement,” he added.
On Sept 15, 2021, the nations announced the formation of AUKUS, a trilateral security treaty for the Indo-Pacific region.
The three AUKUS allies, along with Canada and New Zealand, are members of the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing network.
