Australia has signed a new Indo-Pacific security partnership with the United States and Britain to share defense technologies. American President Joe Biden announced the agreement Wednesday in a joint statement with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Biden said the three leaders understand the importance of ensuring long term peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region. “We need to be able to address both the current strategic environment in the region and how it may evolve,” he said. The partnership is called AUKUS. The three leaders said there were several possible issues of concern that the alliance might deal with, including territorial disputes, terrorism and organized crime. None of the leaders spoke about China in announcing the partnership. However, experts say the deal is designed to answer the possible threat China poses. The partnership permits Australia to build nuclear-powered submarines for the first time. The government in Canberra has said the boats would not be nuclear armed. The alliance also is to share computing technologies and cyber defenses. British leader Johnson described the three nations involved as “natural allies.”