WASHINGTON, Nov 22: US President George Bush will ask a NATO summit next week to establish a partnership between the Atlantic alliance and five key allies, including Japan, Australia and South Korea, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said the `global partners’ proposal, also involving Sweden and Finland, would expand the reach of the 26-nation alliance beyond its traditional boundaries.

“This will have NATO reach out to Australia and to Japan and to South Korea and to Sweden and Finland, the five countries that most prominently train with us, exercise with us in NATO and deploy in the Balkans and Afghanistan with us,” Burns said.

Mr Burns noted that the three Pacific nations are not seeking NATO membership.—AFP