WASHINGTON: Australia said Thursday that more US troops will rotate through the island nation and that the allies will cooperate on missiles, the latest joint steps amid shared concerns over a rising China.

Outlining further measures on a visit to Washington, Defense Minister Peter Dutton said Australia will be “significantly enhancing” cooperation including working together on the development of missiles and explosive ordnance.

He said Australia was willing to see more US Marines in a decade-old rotation through the northern city of Darwin

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, also without giving numbers, confirmed that the United States “will expand our access and presence in Australia.”

Australia is open to boosting American troop rotations and increasing military plane visits as defence co-operation between the allies ramps up.

A historic pact to share nuclear-powered submarine technology - under the umbrella of a new alliance known as AUKUS - has been signed as Australian ministers held talks with counterparts in the United States.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Peter Dutton met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday morning for the latest AUSMIN talks.

Mr Dutton said he aspired to increase troop rotations and other military co-operation between the two nations.

"If that includes basing and includes the storage of different ordinances, I think that is in Australia's best interests, in our national interests at this point in time."

On Saturday, Malaysia joined Indonesia in raising alarm bells about the military build-up in the region and the impact that the AUKUS pact, which includes Australia acquiring nuclear-propelled submarines, could have on regional stability.

Indonesia had for decades pursued an “aktif bebas”, or free and independent foreign policy.

“It’s never going to side with a partisan international alliance, so of course they will be pushing back.”

“They’re also going to be miffed because they were not consulted, just like on the Marines based in Darwin [announced a decade ago]. Despite that they won’t have a real problem, it’s just not in their interests or instincts to side with us.

“[Indonesian President] Jokowi, [Foreign Minister] Retno, [Defence Minister] Prabowo get this, they’re also miffed at what China is doing. They could be domestically wedged by their opponents so no one wants to say it publicly – this is classic south-east Asian behaviour. But like us, they have to balance economic interests and security concerns.”

“ASEAN governments are acutely aware of that and are worried that external powers are creating new architecture that doesn’t include them like the Quad and potentially AUKUS too

It is impossible to read this as anything other than a response to China’s rise, and a significant escalation of American commitment to that challenge. The United States has only ever shared this technology with the United Kingdom, so the fact that Australia is now joining this club indicates that the United States is prepared to take significant new steps and break with old norms to meet the China challenge.

Australia cannot have this capability while assuming that it does not come with heightened expectations that Australia will take America’s side in any dispute with China.

That is the real long-term significance of the deal ­– even more than the agreement to base Marines in Darwin, this deal signals that Australia is betting on the United States as a long-term partner in its region as China’s rise continues.

It is extraordinary that this momentous decision could be made without parliamentary or public scrutiny.

BRITISH soldiers could begin a yearly rotation in the NT, similar to the Marine Rotational Force – Darwin, which could also be expanded, off the back of the newly formed trilateral security partnership announced by the federal government.

Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison said the Territory government was still going through the details of the new alliance, which includes a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.

Ms Manison said Darwin was an important location for the nation and the government was working to increase defence investment in the NT.

“We welcome investment when it comes to defence personnel, strategic defence assets here in the Northern Territory, and we’ll continue working with the Commonwealth government to deliver on what defence needs here in the Territory,” she said.