War talks: Clinton aims for engaging visit
By David McLennan
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will discuss Australia's involvement in the war in Afghani- stan and an enhanced role for the United States in the Asia-Pacific region when she visits Canberra this month.
Mrs Clinton and US Defence Sec- retary Robert Gates will meet Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Defence Minister John Faulkner as part of the annual Australia-US Ministerial Consultations, or AUSMIN talks, at Parliament House on January 18.
Mrs Clinton will arrive in Canberra the day before to begin her first visit to Australia as Secretary of State.
Mr Smith said the AUSMIN talks would address shared global and regional interests, including Afghan- istan and Pakistan.
AGENDA: USSecretary of State Hillary RodhamClintonwillvisit Canberra.
"In the wake of the failed terrorist attack on aUS airliner, AUSMIN will also be an opportunity to take stock of joint counter-terrorism efforts.
Recognising the continuing import- ance of the United States to the security and prosperity of the Asia-
Pacific, the talks will address key challenges in the region," he said.
US expert at the Australian Natio- nal University, John Hart, said Mrs Clinton's speech on multilateral engagement in the Asia-Pacific region, to be delivered in Honolulu on Wednesday, would set the agenda for the discussions.
He predicted she would expand on a speech delivered by US President Barack Obama in Tokyo last year, when he suggested the US would increase its focus on the region.
"It is quite possible that there will be some perhaps specific proposals for increasing that cooperation both diplomatically and militarily. I think that will be crucial," he said.
"I think the Australians will be interested to hear exactly what Oba- ma's decision to increase troops in Afghanistan will mean ... There will
be a lot of discussion about how each side views developments in China.
International terrorism and the war in Afghanistan will involve dis- cussion of Pakistan and otherwise the standard things on the agenda are nuclear non-proliferation --,they always discuss that - defence coop- eration [and] defence procurement."
Australian Strategic Policy. Insti- tute analyst Rod Lyon said, "Our interest will be still in exploring the Obama Administration's strategic policy.
"We are still only a year into the Obama Administration and he is still .a little bit all over the shop on some things, and similarly they will be interested in looking at continued Australian engagement in the world."
There is still no confirmation on when Mr Obama will visit Australia.
