In January, there was a question in the second general studies paper of the civil services (main) examination in India that might interest the Economist, particularly its Asia section. A 15-mark question asked the candidates to analyse whether the newly formed AUKUS (Australia-United Kingdom-United States) partnership was going to supersede the existing partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region. The tail to the question also asked them to assess the strength and impact of AUKUS in the present scenario. Four months later, the readers of the latest issue of the Economist can be imagined impishly scoffing at the question.
With an eye on countering Chinese power in the region, the most significant goal of the AUKUS pact, announced on 15 September 2021, was to help Australia build nuclear-powered submarines. In its latest issue, the Economist has called India’s arsenal of nuclear-powered submarines and other weapon systems such as hypersonic cruise missiles as “prestige military toys”. So were the US and the UK, the country where the newsweekly is headquartered, just pampering Australia with “prestige military toys” in the guise of a China containment strategy? Obviously not.
