A trilateral partnership to give Australia nuclear powered attack submarines is “an enduring commitment,” a “generational opportunity” and a major investment in the economy, a senior state department official said in prepared remarks Monday.
The AUKUS partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the U.S. is “is an opportunity for us not only to strengthen security, but also to strengthen our partnership; an opportunity to reinvigorate economies; a commitment to the next generation; and ultimately a commitment to the future,” Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins, under secretary for arms control and international security, told the Atlantic Council on Monday.
Jenkins is one of the top nonproliferation officials at State. The AUKUS deal has led to cries from China and other countries that the trilateral partnership, which will begin with providing Australia with Virginia-class attack submarines, flouts international nonproliferation norms.
Over the past several months, Jenkins said she and her team visited the U.K., Australia and the HII Newport News shipbuilding yard in Virginia. The trip to Newport News happened only a few weeks ago, Jenkins said in her remarks, which the State Department posted online.
