(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-03-05 09:10

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Tuesday he will begin his first major overseas trip as Australia's leader this month, including visits to the United States and China - underscoring their importance.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, center, welcomes US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and other guests to his residence, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2008, in Canberra, Australia. [Agencies]

US President George W. Bush telephoned on Monday to invite Rudd to visit Washington on March 28 for a White House meeting and lunch, Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for White House National Security Council, said in a statement.

Bush thanked Rudd for hosting US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte at a bilateral security summit in Canberra last month, Johndroe said. "They also discussed the upcoming NATO summit in Bucharest, the need to remain committed in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the importance of East Asian regional security," Johndroe said.

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Rudd declined yesterday to reveal specific details of his conversation with Bush, whom he last met as opposition leader on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in Sydney a month before federal elections in November last year.

"We had a good conversation. He said I was a welcome guest in Washington," Rudd told reporters. "He's looking forward to friendly, constructive discussions on a range of foreign policy agenda items."

Rudd, whose center-left Labor Party won the elections in November after 11 years as the opposition, has joined the United States in calling for some European nations to play more active roles in fighting insurgents in Afghanistan.

While Australia is not a member of NATO, it is invited to attend the Bucharest summit on April 2-4 because its 1,000 troops in Afghanistan make it the largest military contributor outside the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Rudd's government also plans to withdraw 550 combat troops from Iraq by mid-year but has promised to maintain a presence in noncombat roles to promote stability in that fledgling democracy.

After holding talks with Bush, Rudd said he would meet members of the US Congress before traveling to Brussels to visit European Commission representatives ahead of the NATO summit.

From Bucharest, he will fly to London to meet British officials and business leaders before a final stop in China, where the Chinese-speaking former diplomat will meet President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.

Australia is keen to improve relations with its most important defense ally, Washington, as well as its most important trade partner, Beijing.

Rudd - an opponent of the Iraq invasion in which Australia committed 2,000 troops - was elected on a pledge to make foreign policy independent of the US. But he has emphasized the continuing importance of Australia's 57-year-old defense treaty with the US.