AMID CHINA'S AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR: US, UK & Australia agree on nuclear submarine project

Sydney will first receive at least three submarines under the Aukus pact

WASHINGTON: The United States, Australia and the United Kingdom have announced a nuclear-powered submarine deal, a step aimed at countering the Chinese aggressive behaviour in the resource-rich Indo-Pacific region and ensuring that the region remains "free and open." Under the Aukus agreement, Australia will first receive at least three nuclear-powered submarines from the US.

The announcement was made after US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attended a summit meeting in San Diego on Monday and asserted that the move is to keep the Indo-Pacific region "free and open." "With the support and approval of the Congress, beginning in the early 2030s, the United States will sell three Virginia-class submarines to Australia with the potential to sell up to two more if needed, jumpstarting their undersea capability a decade earlier than many predicted," Biden said in the presence of Australian Prime Minister Albanese and British Prime Minister Sunak.

As part of the announcement, the US has also pledged a total of USD 4.6 billion over the next few years to build its submarine construction capacity and to improve the maintenance of its Virginia-class submarines.

"This state-of-the-art conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarine will work that will combine the UK submarine technology and design with the American technology," he said.