BANGKOK, Oct 6 (NNN-TNA) – The military pact among the U.S., Britain and Australia, known as AUKUS, poses a risk of nuclear material and technology proliferation, and threatens peace, stability and security in the Asia-Pacific, a Thai expert said.
“I’m quite sure that the AUKUS poses a risk of proliferation of nuclear material and technology,” Surasit Thanadtang, director of the Thai-Chinese Strategic Research Centre, under the National Research Council of Thailand, told Xinhua in an interview.
The pact will let Australia build nuclear-powered submarines for the first time, Surasit said, adding, with the technology provided by the U.S., it would further go to weapons technology, that might have more impacts on regional peace, stability and security.
“The AUKUS pact is probably the most significant security arrangement among the three nations since WWII, and it focuses on military capability,” he said.
Surasit noted that the United States is sharing the submarine technology for the first time in 50 years, and this time it might be more challenging to the region because of the highly enriched uranium material.
“It’s already the weapon-grade nuclear. It’s not a nuclear for peaceful development,” the expert said.
To more effectively safeguard regional peace, stability and development, Surasit said, countries should uphold promoting and seeking security cooperation, based on a new concept that emphasises joint and comprehensive cooperation, in ensuring sustainable security and creating a security governance framework with regional characteristics.
Countries in the region should jointly build a road of peace, while the key factors of success would include an environment of relative stability and concerted efforts to build development networks, both hard skills and soft skills for youth society, with contribution to regional peace and stability, he said.
He noted, instead of nuclear-powered submarines, what the region needs is, marine research and development in humanitarian, seaside disaster relief, countering terrorism and transnational crime, as well as, green development of the sea.– NNN-TNA
