Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III is set to embark on a trip to Australia, the Philippines, Laos, and Fiji this week. The journey aims to participate in bilateral and multilateral meetings that will further efforts to modernize alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region.

This visit marks Secretary Austin's twelfth official trip to the area. His first stop will be Darwin, Australia, where he will engage in multilateral discussions with regional allies and interact with U.S. Marines from the Marine Rotational Force-Darwin.

Following Australia, Secretary Austin will head to the Philippines for his fourth visit. There, he plans to advance security objectives with Philippine leaders and meet with both U.S. and Philippine forces.

In Laos, Secretary Austin is scheduled to attend the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus on November 21. He intends to reaffirm the U.S.'s commitment to ASEAN centrality at an informal meeting between ASEAN and the United States while identifying future cooperation opportunities with regional counterparts.

The final leg of Secretary Austin's tour will take him to Fiji. This visit is notable as it marks the first time a U.S. Secretary of Defense has visited Fiji. In Fiji, he will meet with key Fijian leaders aiming to deepen bilateral defense relations.

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder emphasized that "Secretary Austin's trip comes as the United States builds on unprecedented cooperation with like-minded countries to strengthen regional security."