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OTTAWA, May 8 (Reuters) – Canada wants to work more closely with allies like Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom in areas of advanced technologies, Defense Minister Anita Anand said on Monday when asked whether the country wanted to join the AUKUS defense alliance.
“Canada is very keen to advance collaboration on AI, quantum computing and other advanced technologies with a defense link to our closest allies,” Anand told reporters in Ottawa when asked about a newspaper report that Ottawa plans to join the AUKUS Alliance .
The Canadian government intends to leverage the alliance’s information-sharing and advanced technology development, including underwater defense capabilities, the Globe and Mail reported Monday, citing unnamed government sources.
The Globe said Ottawa is only looking to join the non-nuclear component of the Australia-UK-US security alliance launched in 2021.
The security agreement also aims to provide Australia with the technology and capability to deploy nuclear-powered submarines.
The pact was opposed by countries such as China and France, which lost their own submarine treaty with Australia after the alliance was formed. Canada’s exclusion from the alliance was also seen by some as a snub to a country already in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance with AUKUS members and New Zealand.
“Our ties with our Five Eyes allies are strong, and indeed we remain interested in advancing collaboration with our allies on AI and other innovation efforts,” Anand said.
Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa, editing by Steve Scherer
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