India and the Anglosphere
Present circumstances:
- The US, UK, and Australia recently concluded a multibillion dollar nuclear submarine agreement under the umbrella organisation AUKUS. They said that the measure was done to uphold the “free and open” status of the Indo-Pacific area.
- According to the agreement, the US would begin selling Australia three Virginia-class submarines in the early 2030s, with the possibility of two more if necessary.
- As a result, Australia would have access to nuclear-powered submarines to try and stop China’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific.
- AUKUS, which is associated with the Quad, is thought by geopoliticians to be a turning point in the evolution of Asian geopolitics (which US and Australia are a part of including India and Japan).
The AUKUS road plan implementation creates a variety of technical and policy challenges:
- Project Timeline and Cost: Current estimates place the project’s cost at roughly $250 billion (to the Australian taxpayer). It will be close to three decades before a nuclear submarine made in Australia is put into service.
- Large-scale projects always face significant delays and rising costs.
- The initial step has been taken, though, and it seems that the three countries have strong bipartisan support for a project that will strengthen their alliance and make it significant for the Indo-Pacific.
The AUKUS project aims to build, assemble, and operate the “sovereign fleet” of the Australian Navy
- The crux of the AUKUS project is the US and UK’s desire to assist the Royal Australian Navy in developing, constructing, and managing a “sovereign fleet” of conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs). This will go through a few stages.
- As the first step in the immediate execution of AUKUS, Australian personnel will be incorporated into the American and British nuclear submarine bases. Also, there will be more nuclear-powered US and British submarines visiting Australian ports.
- In the third phase, which will start early in the following decade, the US will sell up to five nuclear-powered submarines to Australia. Washington and London will forward deploy nuclear submarines to Australia in the second phase, starting in 2027, “to speed the development of the Australian navy workforce, infrastructure, and regulatory system necessary” to build robust SSN capabilities in Australia.
- In the fourth phase, which will start in the late 2030s, Canberra will receive the first AUKUS submarine made in Britain.
- Beginning in the early 2040s, the Australian-built nuclear submarines will begin to be deployed.
Several strategic ramifications of the AUKUS project are felt in Asia, particularly in India:
- AUKUS’s primary objective is to transform Australia’s strategic capabilities and elevate it to a key position in influencing the security environment in the Indo-Pacific.
- Nuclear-powered submarines are but a part of this wider objective. In order to confront the drastically growing Chinese naval might in the Indo-Pacific, the US, UK, and Australia will collaborate more closely as a result of AUKUS to develop a variety of undersea technology.
- UKUS also comprises collaboration between the three countries on a range of cutting-edge technologies, including as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, which may affect regional security scenarios.
- More S&T cooperation between Australia and India may result from improved relations between the two nations, which should eventually expand to include delicate strategic fields.
- Second, foreign policy professionals in India typically fail to recognise the enduring strategic significance of Britain in the world.
- After Central Europe was impressed by London’s engagement in the Ukraine war, the AUKUS pact will boost London’s reputation in Asia.
- By combining cutting-edge US technologies, British domestic nuclear capabilities, and Australian demand to build and create a new generation of nuclear-powered submarines, the UK plays a significant role in the AUKUS.
- It thereby resumes the UK’s active involvement in Asia. Since stepping down from its responsibilities in the East of Suez in the late 1960s, the UK had played a supporting role in Asian security for decades.
- AUKUS has also reintroduced the idea of a “Anglosphere,” which refers to the close geopolitical relations between the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.
- The Indo-Pacific region is the focus of the AUKUS pact, which extends beyond information sharing to integrate the defence and technology industries of the three countries.
- In order to strengthen its position in the Indo-Pacific region, India, which in the past had tense relations with the Anglosphere, is now witnessing a quick increase of those relations.
- Fourth, the absence of nuclear weapons from AUKUS’s mandate has been emphasised by the three countries. While the US and UK are nuclear weapon nations, Australia has renounced its nuclear option by ratifying the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
- China has launched an offensive to attack the AUKUS, alleging that it transgresses non-proliferation laws.
- The NPT does not, however, forbid cooperation between nuclear and non-nuclear weapon states, such as AUKUS.
- Last but not least, the US has made it clear that it does not want to include new allies like Japan and India in the AUKUS system.
- There are no plans for a similar level of cooperation in Delhi. Additionally, Delhi has no reason to disagree with the AUKUS plan to halt Chinese growth in the Indo-Pacific.
Conclusion:
- Formerly, the US aspired to use its own military resources to unilaterally enhance regional security.
- As it adapts to the enormous scale of the military threats that China presents, the USA is increasingly eager to enhance the strategic capabilities of its friends and partners in the Indo-Pacific.
- The US’s priority varies with various allies. Yet maintaining regional power balances is also the aim.
- The US is currently bolstering the forces of Japan and South Korea and striving to establish tighter strategic technological linkages with India.
- In light of this, India has the opportunity to forge unique agreements with the US and its allies that will boost both India’s overall national power and its contribution to regional stability and security in the Indo-Pacific.
