Wellington; The country's defence chief notes Wellington's moral and legal obligations to maintain its nuclear-free status and notes that New Zealand has indicated its willingness to join the AUKUS security pact with the US, UK, and Australia, but only in a non-nuclear capacity.

Defense Minister Andrew Little said in a statement on Tuesday that New Zealand is interested in joining AUKUS as the fourth member in order to take part in the development of military technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and advanced information technology.

He continued, "I've indicated we will be willing to explore it. We have been given the opportunity to talk about whether we could or wish to participate in that pillar two [non-nuclear] aspect of it.

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Little stated that if New Zealand is to join, some of its military equipment, particularly in the area of communications, may need to be upgraded to meet American and Australian standards. He added that some of the nation's technology is "increasingly obsolete."

However, given New Zealand's "legal obligations and our moral commitment to [being] nuclear-free," the defence minister declared he is "quite satisfied" that any participation in AUKUS would involve only conventional weapons.

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"We already have very close relationships with allies and partners who possess nuclear-powered ships, submarines, and nuclear-armed missiles... Nothing that we're doing now changes as a result," he continued.

In a meeting with senior White House national security adviser Kurt Campbell earlier this month, the US official expressed his opinion that there was a chance New Zealand might join the AUKUS pact.

The trilateral agreement, which will be signed in 2021, is focused on easing the transfer of nuclear technology from the US to Australia with assistance from the UK so that Canberra can build nuclear-powered submarines.

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Officials have also referred to the agreement as a means of dissuasion against China, which has criticised the AUKUS agreement for contributing to the spread of nuclear technology globally, "severely damaging regional peace," and escalating a "arms race" in the Indo-Pacific.