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Australia, US, Britain leaders to meet, submarine deal expected
US President Joe Biden will host Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday in San Diego, site of major US Navy operations, to chart a way forward for Australia's plans to obtain nuclear-powered submarines.
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The Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS Virginia (SSN 774) cruises through the Bay of Naples on January 7, 2010 while on a scheduled deployment in the US 6th Fleet area of responsibility. (AFP/US Navy)
T
he leaders of the United States, Britain and Australia will meet in the United States next week to discuss security and foreign policy, all three countries said Wednesday ahead of an expected nuclear submarine deal aimed at countering China's growing assertiveness in the Pacific.
After 18 months of negotiations, it is anticipated that Australia will reveal plans to obtain eight nuclear-powered submarines, in what Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called "the single biggest leap" in defense capability in his country's history.
The deal is part of the fledgling regional security pact among Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States known as AUKUS.
President Joe Biden will meet Monday in San Diego, California with Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to discuss AUKUS, and will also hold separate bilateral talks with them, the White House said. The meeting was also announced by Australia and Britain.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Thursday ahead of a landmark agreement between Washington, Canberra and London that Australia's nuclear submarines will ensure peace and stability across the Indo-Pacific, southeast Asia and Indian Ocean.
"Clearly, these submarines will have the capability to operate at war, but the true intent of this capability is to provide for the stability and for the peace of our region," Marles told parliament.
On Monday the British government will also publish an update to its so-called "Integrated Review" of security, defense and foreign policy, a spokesman for Sunak said in London.
