SYDNEY: The US and Australia signed an agreement on Tuesday that will allow the two countries’ militaries to train and work better together as US Marines and airmen deploy in and out of the country.

“This long-term agreement will broaden and deepen our alliance’s contributions to regional security,” US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Tuesday. He described the US-Australia alliance as the “bedrock” for stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

Hagel spoke during a press conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry and their Australian counterparts, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Defence Minister David Johnston, at the conclusion of annual Australia-US strategic talks. Kerry praised Australia as “a vital partner in so many different endeavors.

“When President Barack Obama visited Australia in 2011, he fuelled tensions with China, Australia’s biggest trading partner, by announcing that up to 2,500 US Marines would rotate through a joint military training hub in the northern Australian city of Darwin. The Marines conduct humanitarian and military exercises with Australian forces. Since 2011, the number of Marines there has grown from about 250 to more than 1,100 now.

Australian Defence Minister David Johnston said the northern territory looks forward to the Marine presence growing to the 2,500 limit.

Adm Sam Locklear, who heads US Pacific Command, told reporters on Monday that there is no timeline for the increase to 2,500. The 2,500, said Locklear, is the size of a Marine air/ground task force unit, which “gives us the best flexibility to partner with” Australia and other allies in the region. One US official said it will take several years to reach the full 2,500-troop level.

US REASSURES CHINA: The United States stressed on Tuesday it welcomes the rise of China and wants to work constructively with Beijing as it signed a deal to deploy 2,500 Marines to Australia as part of its “rebalance” to Asia.

China bristled when the agreement to deploy Marines to the northern city of Darwin was first announced by President Barack Obama in 2011.

But after signing the deal in Sydney, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington was not interested in conflict with the Asian powerhouse.

“We welcome the rise of China as a global partner, hopefully as a powerful economy, as a full participating constructive member of the international community,” he said.

“We are not seeking conflict and confrontation. And our hope is that China will likewise take advantage of the opportunities that are in front of it and be that cooperative partner.

“Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop earlier defended the deal to bring US Marines and Air Force personnel to the Northern Territory, denying it was aimed at China which is embroiled in maritime disputes with neighbours.

“That’s not what it is directed to do at all. It’s about working closely with the United States to ensure that we can work on regional peace and security,” she told a radio programme.

“The United States is rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific so it’s ways we can work together to support economic development as well as security and peace.

“After the talks Bishop, who also hosted US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, said the discussions were broad — ranging from tensions on the Korean peninsula to the crisis in Ukraine and to conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Gaza and Afghanistan.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2014