Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles and U.K. Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps have signed a new defense and security cooperation agreement to strengthen the partnership between Canberra and London on common issues and concerns.
The U.K. government said the pact was signed during the annual Australia-United Kingdom Ministerial Consultations, or AUKMIN, held Friday in Canberra, wherein science and technology, information exchange and foreign policy issues were the other agenda items.
With the new agreement, it will be easier for Australia and the United Kingdom to deploy military forces in each other’s territories for activities like Operation Interflex, it added.
Shapps cited Australia and the United Kingdom’s support to Ukraine, the AUKUS partnership and joint military exercises as proof of “the value of cooperation in delivering security and prosperity.”
In Canberra’s agreement announcement, Marles stressed the “dynamic and enduring” Australia-U.K. relationship. “As the world becomes more complex and uncertain, we must modernize our most important partnerships,” he added.
U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron also participated in AUKMIN to tackle shared regional challenges in such areas as Ukraine, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific. Citing the difficult challenges the two countries face, Cameron said: Our strong ties give us a platform to come even closer together in defense of our values.”
