KUALA LUMPUR, Reuters – Britain’s armed force minister James Heappey said Thursday that there had been “overhyping” of the controversy surrounding a trilateral security pact among Australia, the United States, and Britain.

AUKUS will enable Australia to obtain technology to operate nuclear-powered submarines. This alliance is often viewed as an answer to Chinese militarisation, in particular in South China Sea.

The plan has divided Southeast Asian countries, with Indonesia and Malaysia https://reut.rs/3E4CYzE warning that it could lead to an arms race https://reut.rs/3nic5kT among rival superpowers. The Philippines, a U.S. defence ally, has backed the pact https://reut.rs/3zxeSKQ.

China said that AUKUS’s plan would severely harm regional stability and peace. France has also been in dispute over the alliance, as Australia pulled out of an agreement with Paris to build a submarine fleet.

Heappey claimed that AUKUS did not intend to compete with other countries, and said Australia was simply joining a technology-sharing partnership between Britain (and the United States) for a long time.

He said that there had been “a lot of… overhyping of AUKUS” at Kuala Lumpur’s 50th Anniversary celebration of the five-way defense pact between Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia.

“It does not in any way represent any kind of decrease in our friendship to our great colleagues, allies and friends in Paris. It does not in any way indicate a problem in your area of the world.

Peter Dutton from Australia, the defence minister said that AUKUS wouldn’t change Australia’s future security strategy, but would enable it to continue being a reliable regional partner.

We are not a country that interferes in the affairs of other countries. He said that we are an honest country and love to provide peace for our neighbors.

Derek Chollet was speaking in Jakarta as part of a three-day visit to Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.

On Thursday, he stated that AUKUS is not a threat and that the United States should be more engaged in the region. A free Indo-Pacific and open Indo-Pacific were critical to prosperity and security.

He said that Australia also “doesn’t, nor will use nukes”, and this is the reason why the trilateral alliance works.