Washington – September 16 (Online): The US, UK and Australia have announced to sign a security pact, evidently an effort to counter China in the Asia-pacific region.
Agreement is known as ‘Aukus pact’, which is regarded as one of the biggest of security partnership and agreement by the analysts.
China has condemned the move terming it ‘extremely irresponsible’, international media reported.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said it “seriously undermines regional peace and stability and intensifies the arms race”.
China’s embassy in Washington accused the countries of a “Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice”.
France has termed it as a ‘stab in the back’ as it has now lost a deal with Australia to build 12 submarines.
The new partnership was announced in a joint virtual press conference between US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison on Wednesday.
And while China was not mentioned directly, the three leaders referred repeatedly to regional security concerns which they said had “grown significantly”.
BBC quoted UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace as saying that “China was embarking on one of the biggest military spends in history”.
On Thursday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the pact would “preserve security and stability around the world” and generate “hundreds of high-skilled jobs”.
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