Australia is keen to see Japan collaborate with the AUKUS security partnership — which also includes the United States and the United Kingdom — with regards to future defense technology development, Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles said in a recent interview.
While ruling out Tokyo's participation in the centerpiece project for AUKUS to deliver nuclear-powered submarines to Canberra, Marles said Australia wants to "work more closely with Japan" on technological developments, acknowledging that the Asian nation is a "place of innovation" and is "at the cutting edge of technology."
"I think it is natural that we would be talking about a greater level of cooperation between the three countries — U.S., U.K. and Australia — and Japan, in terms of joint collaborations going forward," he said in the interview in the Australian capital.