Australia, United Kingdom and United States celebrate AUKUS’ first anniversary

Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States celebrated Friday the first anniversary of the creation of the AUKUS partnership — the acronym for each nation — reaffirming their “fundamental” commitment to peace and security in the Indo-Pacific.

The members of this trilateral security corporation have shown on the one-year anniversary of their union their support for an international order that respects human rights, the rule of law and the peaceful resolution of conflicts without coercion,” they said in a joint statement.

One of AUKUS’ early goals was to make progress toward enabling Australia to acquire eight conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines, all while ensuring “the highest standard of non-proliferation.”

“As leaders, we remain committed to ensuring the highest level of nuclear safety, security and stewardship in this endeavor. Australia does not seek and will not acquire nuclear weapons,” the three countries have detailed in the missive.

“The United States and United Kingdom are fully committed to establishing an approach to sharing naval nuclear propulsion technology with Australia that meets the highest nonproliferation standard,” they added.

In this regard, AUKUS has welcomed the report by the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, who has agreed with the partnership’s commitment.

“The international community can be confident that our nations will continue to work transparently with the IAEA to achieve an approach that strengthens the non-proliferation regime,” the three countries have maintained.

All in all, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States have expressed “pride” in a “history of working together, along with other allies and partners,” in the interest of protecting “shared values” and thus maintaining “the rules-based international order.”

“Today, as we celebrate the first anniversary of AUKUS, we reaffirm our commitment to this vital effort and to peace and security in the Indo-Pacific,” the association concluded.