AUKUS submarine deal opens Pandora's box in the Asia-Pacific

The leaders of the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia clinched a deal on Monday under which the US will sell three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia in the early 2040s, with an option for Australia to buy two more if needed, and the three countries plan to jointly develop a new nuclear submarine based on US and UK technology.

The announcement came only days after the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors met in Vienna where many countries opposed the deal. The deal, if put into practice, will undermine peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific, sabotage the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and trigger an arms race.

The three countries are orchestrating a nuclear proliferation event under the AUKUS framework as they agreed in 2021, despite being signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. According to their plan, the US and the UK will transfer tons of weapons-grade highly enriched uranium to Australia, a non-nuclear state, violating the objectives and principles of the NPT, the statute of the IAEA, and the relevant provisions of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty.