Australia’s foreign minister says Quad in Washington shows ‘ironclad’ commitment Via Reuters

Written by Kirsty Needham

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong met her Indian and Japanese counterparts in Washington and said the invitation of the Quad’s foreign ministers to the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump showed said the “iron-clad commitment” of close cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. .

Republican Senator Marco Rubio appears on the verge of being confirmed as Trump’s secretary of state on Monday, clearing the way for a Quad conference on foreign affairs officials the next day, people familiar with the matter said.

The group of Australia, India, Japan and the US was formed amid shared concerns about China’s growing power.

“It is a sign of the joint commitment of all countries to the Quad, an ironclad commitment at this time when the close cooperation of the Indo-Pacific is very important,” Wong said on Sunday at the invitation of foreign ministers to Washington state.

Wong said he would meet with Rubio and other members of the Trump administration, adding that the US alliance was vital to Australia’s security and economic prosperity.

Wong is expected to discuss the AUKUS defense technology partnership with the US and Britain, a decades-long plan to sell nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.

He told reporters in Washington that Australia “is about to increase defense spending”.

“We are very focused on how we continue to deliver AUKUS, because we believe that capacity is very important for deterrence, which is how you can maintain peace,” he said.

Defense Minister Richard Marles said in a radio interview on Monday that AUKUS would see Australia provide a major financial boost to the US industrial complex to speed up US production rates for the Virginia-class submarines. .