US Marines' deployment to northern Australia cancelled

 The Australian government has cancelled a deployment of US Marines to the country's Northern Territory (NT) region amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Approximately 2,500 US troops were due to arrive in Darwin, the capital of the NT, in April as part of a rotation training initiative that began in 2012, reports Xinhua news agency.

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds announced in a statement on Monday that the deployment has been postponed.

Reynolds said that Australia will work with the US to devise options for a possible later deployment, subject to conditions improving and the viability of such a deployment proceeding.

"Any decision in relation to the 2020 Marine Rotational Force - Darwin (MRF-D) in no way affects Australia's commitment to host next year's, or subsequent, MRF-D rotations," she said in the statement. IANS