Australia will get fleet of Nuclear Submarines as scheduled

Washington: The US has been firm on its decision to equip Australia with nuclear submarines to strengthen the military alliance of AUKUS countries. According to the agreement reached last year, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced Australia would get a fleet of nuclear submarines on time. Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles welcomed the announcement. But Republican senators in the US, as well as France, have already criticised the cooperation. US senators have claimed that this AUKUS group and its collaboration will never materialise. A few hours earlier, Secretary of Defense Austin had urged Japan to join the military bloc.

Fifteen months ago, US President Joe Biden established a new group of three countries, the US, the UK and Australia, called AUKUS, claiming that China was dangerous to the security of the Indo-Pacific region. Last year, the group, hastily formed by Biden, had announced that Australia would be equipped with nuclear submarines. Biden had announced that nuclear submarines would be provided to Australia by March 2023. There was no movement in this regard after that.

Against this backdrop, an important meeting was held at the Pentagon on Wednesday between the US, the UK and Australian defence ministers. On this occasion, US Secretary of Defense Austin declared that submarines to Australia would be provided in time. Austin claimed that this would lead to success in achieving peace in the Indo-Pacific region. Besides, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Marles said the additional burden would not fall on Australian taxpayers. But the group founded by Biden and its goals will not be realised, reprimanded the Republican senators of the United States.

Given the growth China has initiated in its naval power, the United States should prioritise fulfilling the US Navy’s requirement for nuclear submarines. Besides, Republican senators accused that it was not feasible for the US to supply nuclear submarines to another country. Moreover, France had initially blamed the Biden administration for stabbing France in the back by proposing a nuclear submarine to Australia.

Meanwhile, it was revealed that Biden has set up a group called ‘AUKUS’ to reduce the importance of the QUAD organisation of India, the US, the UK, Japan and Australia, which was built as a strong front against China in the Indo-Pacific region for the past several years. Since Biden took office, the QUAD organisation has been limited to sloganeering. Biden tried to downplay the importance of the QUAD by starting the AUKUS alliance of the US, the UK and Australia. After that, the US attempted to begin a separate military front by separating Australia and Japan from India, which were the current partners in QUAD.

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