Adding partners to the AUKUS defense project would be “complicated”, a senior Australian diplomat said on Friday. He said he did not believe the US Congress would be open to expanding the Australia-US-Britain pact.
AUKUS was established in 2021 to counter China’s growing power. A first “pillar” involves cooperation between the three partners to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines, but they have raised the possibility of other countries joining a second pillar to develop other high-tech weapons.
Paul Myler, deputy chief of mission at the Australian Embassy in Washington, said it was an “almost unthinkable” achievement that after 40 years of efforts to reform US export controls, the partners were on the verge of creating an environment where cooperation and joint development would be easier.
