Sydney, July 26 (IANS) Australia and the United Kingdom (UK) on Saturday signed a 50-year commitment to the AUKUS defence treaty despite the United States’ ongoing review of the pact.
Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles and UK Defence Secretary John Healey signed the bilateral Nuclear-Powered Submarine Partnership and Collaboration Treaty (the Geelong Treaty) at their meeting in Geelong, Victoria.
“The Geelong Treaty is a historic agreement, the commitment for the next 50 years of UK-Australian bilateral defence cooperation under AUKUS Pillar I,” Marles and Healey said in a joint statement.
The Geelong Treaty will enable comprehensive cooperation on the design, build, operation, sustainment, and disposal of their SSN-AUKUS submarines, according to the statement.
It will support the development of the personnel, workforce, infrastructure and regulatory systems required for Australia’s SSN-AUKUS program, as well as support port visits and the rotational presence of a UK Astute-class submarine at HMAS Stirling under Submarine Rotational Force-West, Xinhua news agency reported.
The signing of the treaty came as the United States wavered on its role in the AUKUS alliance. The US Department of Defence has announced a review of the trilateral security partnership to determine whether the agreement aligns with the “America First” agenda.
Marles and Healey’s joint statement insisted that the Geelong Treaty “builds on the strong foundation of trilateral cooperation between Australia, the UK and the United States,” advancing the shared objectives of the AUKUS partnership.
It will enable the development of SSN-AUKUS and resilient trilateral supply chains, it said.
In September 2021, the United States, the UK, and Australia jointly announced the establishment of a trilateral security partnership and cooperation on nuclear-powered submarines.
As a non-nuclear-weapon state, Australia’s involvement in a project with high risks of nuclear proliferation has raised serious concerns within the international community about the deepening of military alliances among the three countries and the potential undermining of regional peace and stability.
Nine Entertainment newspapers reported on Wednesday that the Australian government recently made a second scheduled 800-million-Australian dollar (525.4-million-US dollar) payment to the United States for the submarine deal.
–IANS
int/bpd/as
