Indonesia, Malaysia concerned over Australia's nuclear subs: 'Will not benefit anyone'

The foreign ministers of Indonesia and Malaysia, on Monday, said that Australia’s nuclear-powered submarines may increase the rivalry of major powers in South East Asia. Last month, the Scott Morrison administration inked the AUKUS deal, under which it will build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines using US expertise. Soon after the deal was inked, experts opined that the new-age submarines would not give Canberra increased access to the region but also provide its partners with a stronger presence in the region.  

“This situation will certainly not benefit anyone,” Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told media reporters in the aftermath of a meeting with her Malaysian counterpart Saifuddin Abdullah in Jakarta. Furthermore, she asserted that it will change the dynamics of the contested Indo-Pacific region. Buttressing her stance meanwhile, Abdullah stressed that the deal could entice other countries to frequent the Indo-pacific region, indirectly threatening its sovereignty.

“We both agreed that efforts to maintain a peaceful and stable region must continue and don’t want the current dynamics to cause tension in the arms race and also in power projection,” Marsudi told media reporters at the joint press conference in Jakarta.

What is the AUKUS deal?

The AUKUS deal, which stands for Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States, will allow Canberra to purchase Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines produced in the United States. A multibillion-dollar French technology deal to replace outdated Collins submarines with ones capable of responding to a "changing" strategic environment was prevented in mid-September as a result of this. The announcement sparked a diplomatic crisis, and EU leaders, particularly French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron, saw it as a setback to hopes that Biden's arrival would usher in a new dawn, or at the very least a change in demeanour, in bilateral relations, following the dark night that the Trump years cast on transatlantic cooperation. On Wednesday. a Geneva-based Chinese diplomat termed AUKUS as a 'textbook case of nuclear proliferation' which is based on 'Cold War mentality and the narrow-minded geopolitical calculation'. 

Image: AP

(With inputs from AP)