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On March 13, Anthony Albanese, Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden, leaders of Australia, the U.K. and the U.S., appeared in front of the USS Missouri, a Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine, in San Diego, California, to unveil how they plan to put in place a decades-long partnership in undersea military systems and strategic technology. The meat of the plan, as The Hindu’s Diksha Munjal outlines in this explainer on what exactly the AUKUS pact entails, involves the three countries operating integrated and interoperable nuclear-powered submarine fleets, with the blueprint envisioning a phased rollout stretching until the mid-2050s.
The plan, no doubt, will have far-reaching consequences for the security of the Indo-Pacific region and India as well. What brought the three countries together, writes Stanly Johny, The Hindu’s International Affairs Editor, was their shared concern about China’s rise. However, putting in place the plan will require, as he explains, enormous long-term investments from the three countries.
China, expectedly, reacted strongly to the announcement, saying it was going “down the wrong and dangerous path” and undermined nuclear non-proliferation. Beijing has called on the IAEA to intervene and for the three countries to put the plan on hold until there is consensus among the IAEA’s members.
The Hindu’s Suhasini Haidar spoke to Australia’s High Commissioner to India Barry O’ Farrell, who said the AUKUS “is effectively a technology compact.” “It is a way for Australia to get access to nuclear power technology for a new class of four submarines to provide better capability for the defence of Australia and for our interests across the region,” he said. “Some people have tried to present it as an alliance or a pact. It’s nothing more than in essence, getting U.S. technology through the U.K. for Australian submarines.” As for the India-U.S.-Australia-Japan Quad grouping, he noted it was “not a military construct, but is a strategic one”. You can read the interview here.
For New Delhi, which has seemed hesitant to explore security aspects of the Quad, AUKUS gives it a breather in the Indo-Pacific military calculus, said an editorial in The Hindu, adding that India, as a voice for the global south, must do what it can to ensure that the announcement does not exacerbate already sharp divides between U.S.-led alliances and the Russia-China combine, and proves to be a deterrent rather than accelerating global conflict.
Opinion
The deal, writes Abhijit Singh, is a moment of reckoning for AUKUS and Australia, and one that highlights the complexities of the transfer of nuclear technology, including for countries such as India.
The Saudi-Iran deal
Wang Yi, the top Foreign Policy Official of China with Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and Musaad bin Mohammed, the National Security Adviser of Saudi Arabia in Beijing, China on March 10. | Photo Credit: Reuters
The other major diplomatic development that continued to make waves last week was the agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, two of West Asia’s major powers that have been at odds with each other for decades, to restore diplomatic relations in a deal brokered by China. In this Explainer, Stanly Johny outlines the deal, the promise, and the limitations. If peace holds, he writes, it could have far-reaching implications for regional security, stability and geopolitics.
The deal has also turned the spotlight on China’s global aspirations to not only play the role of a leading power but offer a different kind of leadership from the U.S. Those aspirations will also be in focus this week, with President Xi Jinping, on Monday, starting a visit to Russia. The visit is certainly symbolic, coming at the very start of his third term as Presidency, as well as amid stepped up Chinese diplomacy on the Ukraine crisis and a rare phone call last week between the Foreign Ministers of China and Ukraine.
More Analysis from The Hindu on the Saudi-Iran Deal
If the détente holds, it will have far-reaching implications on regional geopolitics, from peace in Yemen to stability in Lebanon, said an editorial in The Hindu, which cautioned that it is, however, too early to say if that will be the case, given an enmity that is multi-layered and numerous other pitfalls.
Talmiz Ahmad, former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, on how the deal affirms Beijing’s role in West Asian affairs, posing new challenges for Indian diplomacy in the region.
The SVB Shockwave
File photo: A sign for Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) headquarters is seen in Santa Clara, California, U.S. on March 10, 2023. | Photo Credit: NATHAN FRANDINO
The collapse of the California-headquartered Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) last week caused panic in the global tech-based start-up ecosystem. We looked at what’s next for the bank in this explainer of its collapse, while Mini Tejaswi examined the impact on India and Indian start-ups. The Reserve Bank of India, said The Hindu in an editorial, must remain on guard to ensure neither global contagion nor management missteps threaten any local lender.
Podcast
The Top Five
What we are reading - the best of The Hindu’s Opinion and Analysis
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- Shashi Tharoor on why colonialism cannot be a forgotten factor in understanding the problems and the dangers of today’s world.
- India remained the world’s largest arms importer for the five-year period between 2018-22 even though its arms imports dropped by 11% between 2013–17 and 2018–22, writes Dinakar Peri. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Russia was the largest supplier of arms to India in both 2013–17 and 2018–22, but its share of total Indian arms imports fell from 64% to 45%.
- Meera Srinivasan on how Sri Lanka’s crisis last year yet again brought focus to the country’s executive presidency as well as the long-running debate to abolish it.
- We looked at a overhaul in China of its Party-State machinery announced last week by the ruling Communist Party, what’s driving the restructuring, and why it could mean even more power for Xi Jinping.
