Rishi Sunak to meet Joe Biden, Anthony Albanese to finalise submarine pact to counter China: Report

The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is scheduled to visit the United States on Sunday to meet President Joe Biden and Australian PM Anthony Albanese.

As per reports, the meeting is set to focus on finalising details of a submarine pact aimed at countering China. “In turbulent times, the UK’s global alliances are our greatest source of strength and security,” news agency AP quoted Sunak as saying.

He further said, “I am travelling to the United States to launch the next stage of the AUKUS nuclear submarine programme, a project which is binding ties to our closest allies and delivering security, new technology and economic advantage at home.”

Britain will also publish an update to its security, defence and foreign policy, known as the Integrated Review, on Monday, setting out how it will respond to a world of increasing threats.

AUKUS
This comes as tensions with China have been on the rise since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. Under the aegis of AUKUS (Australia-UK-US), as announced in 2021, the three nations have come together to counter China’s growing military presence in the Indo-Pacific region. Now, a meeting slated to be held on Monday, in San Diego, is expected to amount to a step closer to Australia’s aspiration to receive nuclear-powered submarines.

Under the defence cooperation pact, the US and the UK agreed to provide Australia with the technology and capability for nuclear-powered submarines.