WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama will hold his first face-to-face talks with the new prime ministers of Canada and Australia on the margins of a Asia-Pacific summit in Manila next week, the White House said Thursday.
Obama will meet in the Philippines with Canada's Justin Trudeau and Australia's Malcolm Turnbull, whose countries have signed up to a US-backed trans-Pacific free trade deal, known as the TPP.
Obama and Trudeau have spoken twice on the phone since the youthful Canadian led his Liberal party to a landslide election win last month.
"Clearly, Canada is also a country where we have enormous overlapping interests, including the TPP, including our shared commitment to counter-terrorism and also our cooperation here in the hemisphere," said senior Obama foreign policy aide Ben Rhodes.
Obama will also meet Turnbull while the leaders attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Manila from November 18-19.
"We clearly coordinate very closely with the Australians on many issues including the counter-ISIL (Islamic State group) campaign, our commitment to maritime security and TPP, of which Australia is a critical member," said Rhodes.
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