Clinton, Panetta to Attend Australia‑U.S. Ministerial

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2011 — Sec­re­tary of State Hillary Rod­ham Clin­ton and Defense Sec­re­tary Leon E. Panet­ta will trav­el to San Fran­cis­co this week to attend the Australia‑U.S. Min­is­te­r­i­al Con­sul­ta­tions, Pen­ta­gon Press Sec­re­tary George Lit­tle said today.

The main top­ics on the agen­da at AUSMIN, as the meet­ing is known, Lit­tle said, will include a dis­cus­sion of chal­lenges in the Asia-Pacif­ic region, ways to improve and deep­en alliance coop­er­a­tion, and issues affect­ing glob­al security. 

This year’s AUSMIN is sched­uled Sept. 14–16. Atten­dees will cel­e­brate the 60th anniver­sary of the ANZUS treaty, signed in 1951 by the Unit­ed States, Aus­tralia and New Zealand, he added. 

Accord­ing to the U.S. State Depart­ment, the treaty is Australia’s pre-emi­nent for­mal secu­ri­ty treaty alliance. 

Lit­tle said Clin­ton and Panet­ta will greet Aus­tralian For­eign Min­is­ter Kevin Rudd and Defense Min­is­ter Stephen Smith on Sept. 15 at the Pre­sidio, where the ANZUS treaty was signed. 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs)