Australia is doubling down on a push to deepen trilateral military cooperation with Japan and the United States, but has ruled out a broader Indo-Pacific collective defense pact for now, the nation¡¯s defense chief told The Japan Times.

¡°The three countries are doing a whole lot to, in a sense, trilateralize bilateral activities that each of us have, and that is greatly enhancing our capacity and our capability across our three nations,¡± Richard Marles said in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore over the weekend.

One example of this approach, he said, is in the area of air and missile defense where they are aiming to build a networked architecture.