AUKUS Alliance

• IAS NEXT, Lucknow
• 18, Feb 2022

Reference News:-

China has equated the India, U.S., Australia, Japan Quad grouping with the AUKUS (Australia, U.K., U.S.) defence pact, calling both “exclusive cliques” part of the Biden administration’s “ill-intentioned” Indo-Pacific strategy.

• It said, this ‘strategy’ resurrects the Cold War mentality and will only bring division and turbulence to the Asia-Pacific.

About the AUKUS Pact:

• The UK, US and Australia, in 2021, announced a historic security pact in the Asia-Pacific, in what’s seen as an effort to counter China. It is called the AUKUS pact and AUKUS alliance.
• Under the AUKUS alliance, the three nations have agreed to enhance the development of joint capabilities and technology sharing, foster deeper integration of security and defence-related science, technology, industrial bases and supply chains.
• Under the first major initiative of AUKUS, Australia would build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines with the help of the US and the UK, a capability aimed at promoting stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

China’s response:

China has condemned the agreement as “extremely irresponsible”.

Concerns raised by China:

• The Alliance undermines regional peace and stability and intensifies the arms race.
• It shall reinvent a “Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice”.

Rationale behind the formation of this alliance:

The new partnership was announced in a joint virtual press conference. And while China was not mentioned directly, the three leaders referred repeatedly to regional security concerns which they said had “grown significantly”.

• In recent years, Beijing has been accused of raising tensions in disputed territories such as the South China Sea.
• Western nations have been wary of China’s infrastructure investment on Pacific islands, and have also criticised China’s trade sanctions against countries like Australia.

Why nuclear-powered submarines?

These submarines are much faster and harder to detect than conventionally powered fleets. They can stay submerged for months, shoot missiles longer distances and also carry more.

• Having them stationed in Australia is critical to US influence in the region, analysts say.
• The US is sharing its submarine technology for the first time in 50 years. It had previously only shared technology with the UK.
• Australia will become just the seventh nation in the world to operate nuclear-powered submarines, after the US, UK, France, China, India and Russia.
• Australia has reaffirmed it has no intention of obtaining nuclear weapons.