NUCLEAR SUBMARINES: CAUGHT IN THE CROSS-CURRENTS

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 9/23/2021 6:19:09 AM

New Delhi, Sep 22 Submarines are devices of deception. They’re meant to hide their true positions and quietly torpedo the enemy’s vessels. In the ongoing diplomatic stand-off between the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Australia on the one hand and France on the other over nuclear submarines, they’ve lived up to that reputation of stealth. But there’s one big twist that India must note. The submarine subterfuge that has left France fuming didn’t target the enemies of the new troika of America, Britain and Australia, dubbed AUKUS. It has, instead, struck at historic alliances: NATO and the US-France partnership that has stood the test of time since the American War of Independence. To be sure, there are elements of the AUKUS deal that suit India’s strategic interests well. As a part of the new alliance, the US and the UK will sell Australia nuclear-powered submarines. That represents a definite and deeper commitment from both Washington and London to the security of the Indo-Pacific region, where they — and other countries, including Australia — share India’s worries about China’s increasingly expansionist inclinations. India isn’t part of any security alliance but has significantly ramped up its multilateral partnerships in a part of the world that New Delhi considers its extended neighbourhood. It has trilaterals with the US and Japan, and separately with Japan and Australia. And then there’s the socalled Quad — a grouping of India, the US, Japan and Australia. Leaders of the four Quad countries will meet at a physical summit for the first time later this week on September 24 in Washington. New Delhi’s active participation in the Quad has riled Beijing in recent years. China sees the initiative — and other such multilateral platforms — as efforts aimed at containing its rise. The new AUKUS alliance could take away some of the heat from the Quad, a scenario that India wouldn’t mind. India has long seen itself as a central pillar of any security architecture in the region. The Quad reinforced that conviction in South Block. But while India was informed in advance about the formation of the new AUKUS alliance, senior officials have confirmed to this writer that New Delhi was not told about the plan to supply Canberra with nuclear submarines.

 

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