Australia's Rudd Pledges Closer Security Ties With India, China

By Gemma Daley
www.bloomberg.com

Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Australia will increase security co- operation with India and China and pursue an EU-style union in Asia, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said.

Rudd, describing the U.S. as Australia's ``key strategic partner'' and the ``central pillar'' to foreign policy, said the nation will work to create a stronger relationship between the U.S. and China.

``The global and regional order is now changing so rapidly, we need to reassess our national security needs,'' Rudd, 51, told parliament in Canberra as he announced the appointment of a national security adviser.

Rudd pledged to lobby for an Asia-Pacific Community, strengthen the U.S. alliance and pursue nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. Australia will also combat organized crime, which costs the nation A$10 billion ($6.5 billion) a year.

The national review of security comes after a terrorist assault in Mumbai on Nov. 26 killed 195 people, including two Australians. Rudd said Australians have been the victims of terror in India, Baghdad, Bali and Indonesia.

Terrorism

``Terrorism is likely to endure as a serious ongoing threat,'' Rudd said. ``Extremism leading to violence or terrorism continues to pose a direct threat to Australia and Australian security interests.''

Rudd's Labor government pledged closer ties with Asia and a continued strong alliance with the U.S. when it won office last November. The government has promised to increase the defense budget by 3 percent each year to 2017-18 and is conducting a review of its force numbers and spending.

The nation must strengthen its defense forces to keep pace with a military build-up in the Asia-Pacific, where population growth will increase competition for resources and intensify territorial disputes, Rudd said in September.

Australia had 51,504 defense force personnel in 2007, including 12,690 in the navy, 25,525 in the army and 13,289 in the air force, according to official figures. The government will spend A$18 billion on its defense force this fiscal year.

The government this year withdrew 550 combat soldiers from Iraq, a pledge Rudd made to voters before the election. Australia still has 1,000 personnel in and around Iraq, about 1,000 soldiers under NATO command in southern Afghanistan and about 750 peacekeepers in East Timor and 140 in the Solomon Islands.

Rudd pledged to strengthen security cooperation with Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.