Australia: AUSMIN To Highlight Deepening Military And Economic Ties

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin will host their Australian counterparts at the Department of State today for the 2022 Australia-U.S. Ministerial (AUSMIN).

• Blinken, Austin, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles will hold a joint press conference at 15:45 ET 20:45 GMT.
• The US-Australian bilateral relationship has seen a deepening in recent years with military collaboration within AUKUS (Australia, UK, US) and diplomatic alignment within the QUAD (United States, Australia, Japan, and India) positioning Australia as a fulcrum to US strategy in the Indo-Pacific region.
• The US National Security Council’s Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said this year, “moving forward, everything we do of consequence in the Indo-Pacific, we will do with Australia.”
• According to CSIS, the agenda will encompass: How to deepen ties with Japan, South Korea, and India; define strategy on the Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia; and how to manage tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
• CSIS recommends: "Against the backdrop of a deteriorating security landscape in the Indo-Pacific, the United States and Australia need to continue to modernize their warfighting capabilities in preparation for a possible future military conflict."