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April 8 (UPI) -- The United States, Australia and Britain indicated Monday they will officially consider Japan's push to be included in the AUKUS military pact between the three nations. Japan's possible inclusion in the "pillar" of the pact seeking to bolster defense technology collaboration to counter China's growing naval presence in the Indo-Pacific region is now on the table, the three countries said in a joint statement.
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The AUKUS strategic partnership was formed in 2021 in response to increasing Chinese military provocations in the region. "Pillar I," the centerpiece of the pact, focuses on the acquisition of a nuclear submarine capability for Australia, while "Pillar II" seeks to spur the development of a range of advanced defense capabilities in areas such as artificial intelligence and hypersonic missiles across all three nations.
Japan could be a good fit for inclusion in Pillar II, according to Monday's statement from U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, British Defense Minister Grant Shapps and Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles.
"Recognizing Japan's strengths and its close bilateral defense partnerships with all three countries, we are considering cooperation with Japan on AUKUS Pillar II advanced capability projects," they wrote.
Marles said in February he was seeking to include Japan in the agreement.
"I think it is natural that we would be talking about a greater level of cooperation between the three countries -- U.S., UK and Australia -- and Japan, in terms of joint collaborations going forward," he told Japan's Kyodo News.
"As Pillar Two becomes more mature, which is going to take some years... I think there is an opportunity at that point to look at how we can cooperate with Japan in relation to that," he said.
The topic of Japan joining AUKUS is also likely to be on the agenda when Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with U.S. President Joe Biden in a Washington summit on Wednesday, Japanese media reported.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will also join the summit to discuss enhanced cooperation on maritime security in the Indo-Pacific, White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday.
"The leaders are expected to announce new initiatives across a range of important issues during this historic trilateral meeting," he said. "It's the first ever at the leader level, and so we're going to look to find ways to continue to deepen the collaboration with our closest partners, again, to ensure a free, open, prosperous, secure Indo-Pacific."
The United States, Japan and the Philippines "are three closely aligned maritime democracies with increasingly convergent strategic objectives, interests, and, frankly, concerns in areas like the South China Sea," Kirby added.
