UK and Australia sign new defense pact

CANBERRA

The United Kingdom and Australia inked a new defence agreement in Canberra on March 21, as they try to boost a fledgling nuclear-powered submarine program with the United States.

U.K. defence minister Grant Shapps signed the agreement in Canberra with his counterpart Richard Marles, establishing a legal framework that makes it easier to host troops and share military intelligence.

The agreement stops short of a full mutual defence pact, which would bind one side to intervene if the other was attacked.

But it does include a "commitment to consult" about emerging threats and establishes an "status of forces agreement", which makes it easier to host soldiers from the other nation.

"It is extraordinary, actually, the United Kingdom and Australia didn't already have a defence cooperation treaty in place," Shapps said after the signing ceremony.

Alongside the United States, Australia and the U.K. are members of the fledgling AUKUS defence alliance - a landmark pact aimed at curbing Chinese military expansion in the Asia-Pacific.

Barely two years old, there are already signs the AUKUS program is under threat - and some fear Donald Trump could scrap it completely if he returns to power next year.

A major pillar of the AUKUS pact is a promise to help Australia build and acquire a fleet of potent nuclear-powered submarines, one of its biggest-ever military upgrades.

Agreement would make it easier, for example, for Australian sailors to train on the U.K.'s nuclear subs, or for British crews to be based in Australia.