Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has assured Australia that the AUKUS deal has his country’s backing following efforts by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to ease regional concerns over the security pact.
The meeting, which occurred on March 15 during a diplomatic visit in Fiji’s capital Nadi, comes a day after Indonesia and Malaysia issued statements outlining their ongoing concerns with AUKUS.
Indonesia said Australia would need to develop an effective “verification mechanism” to ensure that the deal would not fall foul of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. While Malaysia warned that AUKUS could “potentially trigger an arms race in the region.”…