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

By Kirsty Needham

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

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio appears on track to be confirmed as Trump’s secretary of state on Monday, clearing the way for a meeting of Quad foreign ministers the next day, people familiar with the matter said earlier.

The grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the United States was formed over shared concerns about China’s growing power.

“It is a demonstration of the collective commitment of all countries to the Quad, an ironclad commitment at this time when close cooperation in the Indo-Pacific is so important,” Wong said Sunday of the foreign ministers’ invitation to Washington.

Wong said she would also meet Rubio and other members of the Trump administration, adding that the U.S. alliance was critical to Australia’s defense 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 submarines to Australia.

She told reporters in Washington that Australia was “on track to increase defense spending.”

“Our focus is very much on how we can continue to implement AUKUS because we believe that capabilities for deterrence, the way you can ensure peace, are so important,” she said.

Defense Minister Richard Marles said in a radio interview on Monday that Australia would make a significant financial contribution to the American industrial base through AUKUS to accelerate US production rates of Virginia-class submarines.