The effect of AUKUS on India’s foreign and defence policies

Abstract

In September 2021, India greeted the news that Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States had formed ‘AUKUS’ – a security partnership focusing on the Indo-Pacific – coolly. This is despite it improving its diplomatic and security engagements with each of these countries since 2017, when Sino-India relations soured after an armed stand-off over a long-standing border dispute. New Delhi is particularly concerned that AUKUS may cause an increase in the number of nuclear-powered attack submarines operating in the eastern Indian Ocean from the 2030s onwards, an issue aggravated by the fact that the Indian Navy would like to acquire these types of vessels but currently does not have a clear plan to do so.