- K. Prime Minister is heading to San Diego to finalise the AUKUS deal.
- It is a trilateral security partnership between Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. that will provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.
- It will also to work together in the Indo-Pacific region, where the rise of China is seen as an increasing threat, and develop wider technologies.
- Their aim is not to arm the new submarines with nuclear weapons.
- The US and the UK will share technology to construct nuclear powered submarines with Australia.
- This could make Australia the first nation that does not have a nuclear weapons program but will operate nuclear powered boats.
- Australia will enter a select club of nations with such submarines. The others include:
- India, Russia, France and China, besides the UK and the US.
India’s position:
- India is among the six nations that have nuclear powered submarines.
- India has had the capacity since it got the Soviet-built K-43 Charlie-class submarines in 1987.
- It was rechristened INS Chakra.
- The submarine was decommissioned in 1991.
- In 2012 India got another Russian submarine on a 10-year lease, called INS Chakra 2.
INS Arihant:
- The first Indian nuclear submarine, the INS Arihant, was commissioned in 2016.
- A second Arihant-class submarine, INS Arighat, was secretly launched in 2017.
- The INS Arihant is now classified as a Strategic Strike Nuclear Submarine or SSBN, which means it is a nuclear-powered ballistic submarine.
SOURCE: THE HINDU, THE ECONOMIC TIMES, PIB