The US, UK and Australia agreement for cooperation in Naval Nuclear Propulsion (NNP) presents a viable legal framework under which NNP technology can be transferred to Australia.

Australia’s pursuit of strategic equilibrium has become the defining feature of its foreign policy in recent times.

As the roadmap and scope of the two pillars of AUKUS are now clearly defined, near-term tangible outcomes can be expected to materialise from 2024 onwards.

AUKUS illustrates the growing strategic depth between the US and Australia, the UK’s return to ‘East of Suez’ and Australia’s attempts to revolutionise its defence industrial base.

The Indo-Pacific construct has significantly enhanced the strategic salience of both India and Australia in a multipolar region. While the two nations have considerably deepened their strategic partnership, there is scope for much more improvement in several sectors.

Prime Minister Kishida Fumio gave a resolute call for pursuing “realism diplomacy for a new era” in his Diet deliberations. How strategically innovative and politically effective will it prove in pursuing Tokyo’s national interests in the US–China–Japan calculus?