Department of Defense Spokesperson Lt. Col. Martin Meiners provided the following readout:
U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, Dr. Ely Ratner, and U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities, Dr. Mara Karlin, co-chaired the U.S.-Australia Defense Policy & Strategy Talks (DPST) at the Pentagon today with their Australian counterparts: Acting First Assistant Secretary of Defence for International Policy, Samantha Higgins, and Acting First Assistant Secretary of Defence for Strategic Policy, Amanda Toms.
The DPST is the premier defense policy dialogue for the U.S.-Australia Alliance to address shared challenges in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond by ensuring close coordination and promoting the alignment of strategic guidance.
The officials held robust discussions on the development and implementation of the 2023 Australian Defence Strategic Review and the 2022 U.S. National Defense Strategy, the regional security environment, force posture progress and opportunities, multilateral approaches to security challenges, strategic capability co-development, and next steps for the AUKUS trilateral security pact.
The Department looks forward to continuing this robust discussion during the upcoming Australia-U.S. Ministerial (AUSMIN) Meeting.