Written by Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong met her Indian and Japanese counterparts in Washington and said the invitation extended to the Quad's foreign ministers to attend the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump showed a “firm commitment” to close cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. .
Republican Senator Marco Rubio appears on track to be confirmed as Trump's secretary of state on Monday, setting the stage for a meeting of Quad foreign ministers the next day, people familiar with the matter previously said.
The Australia-India-Japan-US grouping was formed amid shared concerns about China's growing power.
“It is evidence of the collective commitment of all countries to the Quad, a firm commitment at this time when close cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region is extremely important,” Wong said on Sunday of the foreign ministers’ invitation to Washington.
Wong said she would also meet with Rubio and other members of the Trump administration, adding that the US alliance is important for 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-powered submarines to Australia.
She told reporters in Washington that Australia is “on the path to increasing defense spending.”
“Our focus is very much on how we continue to implement the AUKUS programme, because we believe that capability is very important for deterrence, which is how you secure peace,” she said.
Defense Minister Richard Marles said in a radio interview on Monday that AUKUS would see Australia make a significant funding contribution to the US industrial base to accelerate US production rates of Virginia-class submarines.
