Australian PM mentioned rationale in seeking to initiate AUKUS: MEA on PM Modi-Morrison meet

During meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison briefly mentioned the rationale from the Australian side in seeking to initiate the Australia-UK-US (AUKUS) trilateral security pact, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla informed.

"Prime Minister Morrison briefly mentioned the rationale from the Australian side in seeking to initiate the AUKUs alliance. He felt that the technology they received was appropriate and there was a brief discussion in that regard," Shringla said when asked if discussion on AUKUS trilateral security pact took place in a meeting between PM Modi and his Australian counterpart.

The Foreign Secretary was addressing a special press conference on PM Modi's first day of engagements in the US. PM Modi is on a three-day visit to the US.

AUKUS is a trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, announced on September 15, 2021, will allow Australia to have nuclear submarines.

Australia has defended the move by saying it has done the pact for a secure Indo-Pacific region.

Earlier, Shringla had said that the trilateral AUKUS security pact will have no effect on the functioning of Quad and both the groupings have no similarities.

Quad is quadrilateral cooperation between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States. Shringla had said Aukus "is a security alliance between three countries".

( With inputs from ANI )