This ‘arming’ of Canberra, combined with America’s readiness to court the ire of its EU allies, points to the significance of this three-way deal. Since these need not resurface to refuel over prolonged periods, their ability to escape detection is enviable, and the very fact that they could be armed with nuclear weapons too can deter hostility. Nuclear-sub know-how plays a key role in modern-day deterrence of adversaries.
While the Quad does count a “free and open Indo-Pacific" as part of its shared vision, and has conducted joint naval exercises, its thunder was stolen this week by the prospect of a transfer by the US to Australia of closely-guarded technologies for artificial intelligence and the manufacture of nuclear-powered submarines under Aukus. We need to decode these signals with due care and adjust our approach accordingly. But it is hard to deny that Tokyo and New Delhi suddenly seem relatively peripheral to US President Joe Biden’s plan of a power-projection pivot from West to East Asia.
If this has spelt some disappointment in India’s capital, our diplomats have not shown it, pointing out that the Quad has an agenda of its own which suits our common interests. This acronym of Australia, UK and US that also sounds as if it’s short for an ‘Aussie caucus’ is a trilateral defence pact that now looks set to serve as the military lynchpin of Washington’s strategy-such as it is-to secure the region from Beijing’s dominance and shield the post-1945 global order. Even as anticipation was rising in New Delhi around the first in-person meeting this Friday of Quad leaders after the covid outbreak, with the US, Australia, Japan and India expected to turn the contours of this four-nation grouping into the foreshadow of an alliance for mutual security in the face of China’s rise, it has been upstaged in Indo-Pacific geopolitics by Aukus.
0 kommentar(er)
