“Our future security will be built and maintained not just by the courage and professionalism of our defense forces, but by the hard work and know-how of our scientists and engineers, our technicians and programmers, our electricians and welders,” Mr. Albanese said.
Mr. Sunak — who on Monday also invited Mr. Biden to Northern Ireland for the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement that ended decades of conflict there — said the new alliance will cement the effort of democratic nations to contain destabilizing behavior.
“The challenges we face have only grown,” he said. “Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, China’s growing assertiveness, the destabilizing behavior of Iran and North Korea all threaten to create a world defined by danger, disorder, and division. Faced with this new reality, it is more important than ever that we strengthen the resilience of our own countries.”
The plan embeds Britain firmly into American and Australian military strategies in the Asia-Pacific region, which is likely to put London at greater odds with Beijing in the coming years.
“It’s tying the United Kingdom, a European power, to Australia, a Pacific power, with the United States as the glue holding this new partnership together,” said Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser. “And it’s a manifestation of a broader encouragement that the president has offered to European allies to be more engaged in Asia, and Asian allies like Japan and Korea to be more involved in Europe.”
In recent months, Mr. Biden and his aides have announced they will help Japan build up its military after decades of a pacifist stance by Tokyo, and they will deploy American troops and equipment at more non-U.S. military bases in the Philippines.
The Biden administration has also worked to strengthen cooperation among the nations in the Quad, a nonmilitary partnership that includes the United States, India, Japan and Australia — all countries that are increasingly anxious about China’s expansive territorial claims and strategic intentions in Asia.