AUKUS defence pact puts Indonesia in tight spot

US President Joe Biden watches as Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks virtually on national security in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on Sept 15, 2021. - AFP

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): Australia’s newly unveiled defence pact with the United Kingdom and the United States is expected to heighten tensions in the Indo-Pacific, with Indonesia and other countries finding themselves caught in the middle of an arms race between Western allies and China.

Canberra will get US cruise missiles and a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines as part of the new agreement, dubbed AUKUS, which has angered Beijing and worried nuclear non-proliferation activists and regional diplomats.