Australia Interacts With Indo-Pacific Partners On AUKUS, Invites Beijing To Dialogue - PM

Australia was in contact with India and Japan to discuss the freshly-forged AUKUS alliance and invites China to join the discussion, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th September, 2021) Australia was in contact with India and Japan to discuss the freshly-forged AUKUS alliance and invites China to join the discussion, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Thursday.

"I spoke to (India Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and (Japanese Prime Minister) Yoshihide Suga last night," the Prime Minister said, as cited by 9 news.

Australia has also extended an open invitation to Beijing with a proposal to negotiate other issues.

"There's an open invitation for (Chinese President Xi Jinping) to discuss other matters. That has always been there. Australia is open to discuss issues important to the Indo-Pacific," Morrison added.

He also dismissed suggestions that the Chinese government considered the creation of the AUKUS alliance to be a provocative move.

"It is not an uncommon thing for countries to take decisions in their own strategic interests and build up their defense capabilities," Morrison stated.

On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared formation of the new AUKUS defense and security partnership in a joint statement. The first initiative under the AUKUS alliance will be the creation of nuclear technology for the Royal Australian Navy. The move prompted outrage in France, whose Naval Group lost a $66-billion contract for the construction of diesel-electric submarines for Australia.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington, in response to the formation of the defensive partnership between the United States, Great Britain and Australia, urged countries to get rid of the Cold War mentality and to refrain from creating alliances against others.