Australia will consider contributing more to help fight the advance of Islamic State in Iraq if asked, the foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, has said.
Leaders of more than 20 countries, including Australia, are meeting in Paris for discussions on how to combat Isis.
Bishop confirmed that she had had one-on-one talks with the Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, before the summit, but said the pair had not talked about Australia sending more troops to help fight Isis.
“That was not specifically requested. He was talking about more weapons, more equipment, more training,” she told ABC Radio on Wednesday. “The prime minister didn’t ask for more troops, nor did I offer them.”
Earlier, after the Paris meeting, Bishop said: “We haven’t been asked, and if a request is made, we’ll consider it,” she said. “But Australia is already the second-largest contributor to the building partner capacity mission after the United States.
“[Al-Abadi’s] plea is to other nations who have not yet provided a military contribution, and I am quite confident that is the view, because we discussed it in our bilateral meeting.”
Australia has about 330 troops in Iraq to help train the nation’s army, in a mission expected to last two years.
The prime minister, Tony Abbott, did not rule out conducting airstrikes on Syria, saying no decision had been made.
Bishop has pledged further humanitarian assistance to Iraq, setting aside $8m for world food program aid in the region. The cash injection comes just weeks after the program lost $2.5m – or 5% – of its overall funding in the May federal budget.
