London and Canberra enter into defense agreements

Britain and Australia have agreed on a new defense cooperation that includes, among other things, the exchange of intelligence information and simpler rules for the two nations to station soldiers in each other’s countries.

The agreement was signed by Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles and his British counterpart Grant Shapps in Canberra on Thursday.

Australia already has a similar agreement with the United States, and together with the United Kingdom, the three countries form the military pact Aukus, which works to curb China’s military expansion in the Asia-Pacific region.