Australia, Great Britain and the United States, which are part of the AUKUS military alliance, are considering the possibility of partnering with Canada, New Zealand and South Korea in prospective projects. A high-ranking American official told Yonhap news agency about it.
This announcement comes after the defense ministers of the three AUKUS member countries released a joint statement stating that they consider Japan as a partner.
“The members of the alliance are considering nominations of other additional partners along with Japan, which can make an important contribution to the development of the second component of the partnership, which involves cooperation in high-tech fields,” the interlocutor of the agency noted.
It was previously reported that Canada is in talks with Australia, Great Britain and the United States about possible membership in AUKUS. In addition, Canberra and Wellington announced the start of negotiations on New Zealand’s participation in the second non-nuclear component of the alliance partnership.
AUKUS is a security partnership between the governments of Australia, the UK and the US, established in September 2021 to implement several joint defense initiatives in both directions (components). The first involves providing Australia with a fleet of nuclear attack submarines. The second is related to the joint development of military assets in eight areas, which include underwater systems, quantum technologies, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, cyber security and radio electronic warfare, hypersonic aircraft and their interceptors, as well as innovations and information exchange technologies.
#AUKUS #enlisting #countries #Japan #partners