BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – Australia and ASEAN agreed on Wednesday to establish a “comprehensive strategic partnership”, a sign of Canberra’s ambition to play a bigger role in the region.
Announced after the ASEAN-Australia Summit, the pact would further strengthen Australia’s diplomatic and security ties in a fast-growing area that has become a strategic battleground between major powers in the region.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia would invest AUD$154 million in projects in Southeast Asia on health and energy security, counter-terrorism, fighting transnational crime, plus hundreds of scholarships.
“This milestone underscores Australia’s commitment to ASEAN’s central role in the Indo-Pacific and positions our partnership for the future,” he said in a joint statement with Foreign Minister Marise Payne. “Australia supports a peaceful, stable, resilient, and prosperous region, with ASEAN at its heart.”
Brunei, serving as chair of ASEAN, said the agreement “marked a new chapter in relations” and would be “meaningful, substantive and mutually beneficial”.
Date of Release: 27 October 2021
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October 29, 2021
