Indonesia has issued a forceful warning about the dangers of sharing nuclear propulsion technology ahead of a high-profile United Nations meeting that is expected to scrutinise Australia's plans to develop nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS pact.
In a submission to next month's UN review of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, Indonesia's government said it "notes with concern the potential consequences" that transferring nuclear submarine technology could have for the global non-proliferation regime.
The draft working paper does not directly reference Australia, and Indonesian officials have reportedly said that it's not a direct response to the AUKUS pact.
However, Jakarta has repeatedly expressed unease about Australia's nuclear submarines push, and its submission repeats several of the main arguments made by opponents of Australia's nuclear submarine ambitions:
"Indonesia views any cooperation involving the transfer of nuclear materials and technology for military purposes from nuclear-weapon states to any non-nuclear weapon states as increasing the associated risks [of] catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences."
Transferring enriched uranium for nuclear-powered submarines is permitted under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, and Australia has repeatedly said it has no intention of developing nuclear weapons.
However, Indonesia's submission warns that the exclusion of nuclear naval propulsion from the treaty regulations "could be exploited to provide a shield for diversion of that material to [a] nuclear weapons program".
'Close off pathways to proliferation'
Benjamin Zala from the Australian National University said the concerns raised by Indonesia "echo the general uneasiness among non-proliferation advocates about the precedent that the AUKUS submarines project sets".
"More states having access to materials which, in principle, can be used for a weapon is bad news for an already somewhat fragile non-proliferation regime. Material aboard submarines is particularly challenging for the IAEA to keep track of," Dr Zala told the ABC.
Dr Zala said there was no evidence that Indonesia suspected that Australia would actually divert nuclear material from submarines into a weapons program, but that Jakarta seemed concerned AUKUS could set a worrying precedent.
"It's not necessarily an Indonesian concern about Australia, or Australian intentions as such but, instead about the ways that this weakens international efforts to close off pathways to proliferation," he said.
The ABC has tried to reach Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.
Nine Newspapers have quoted Achsanul Habib — the director for international security and disarmament at Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Ministry — as saying that Indonesia's UN working paper was "in no way intended to respond to AUKUS".
"The Indonesian [working paper] was submitted to fill in the gap in the NPT regulation related to nuclear naval propulsion, which is still lacking in regulations," he was reported to have said.
But Dr Zala said it was obvious that Australia and AUKUS were the main targets of Indonesia's submission.
"There is no doubt that the working paper from the Indonesian delegation is a direct consequence of the AUKUS decision," he said.
"These concerns have been around, in a hypothetical sense, for a long time — Australia used to share them — but Indonesia is raising them now because Australia is planning on being the first state to actually exploit this loophole in the NPT."
Potential strain on Indonesia-Australia relationship
China has already signalled that it will use next month's meeting to rally opposition to the AUKUS pact.
Australian officials have privately accused Beijing of gross hypocrisy, pointing out that it has a growing fleet of nuclear-powered submarines while rapidly building up its own arsenal of nuclear weapons.
Earlier this week, the US special representative for nuclear non-proliferation, Adam Scheinman, made a similar point, saying that Beijing had "[failed to] recognise that it's China's own actions in the region that have led the partners to close gaps in our security".
A delegation of 16 government officials will represent Australia at different times over the month-long review meeting in New York, including Australia's Ambassador for Arms Control and Counter-Proliferation, Ian Biggs, and its Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Amanda Gorely, who is also the country's Ambassador for Disarmament.
In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said that that "Australia has a proud tradition of constructive, pragmatic international engagement to support nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament."
"Australia's delegation to the tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will work over the four weeks of the meeting to address pressing nuclear proliferation challenges and advocate for practical steps towards nuclear disarmament," it said.
Dr Zala said that, while he didn't believe the nuclear submarine plan would become a "major sticking point" in the Indonesia-Australia relationship, it would nonetheless "place added strain on it".
And he predicted that the Australian delegation would be "asked some fairly pointed questions" at the New York conference.
"Given the real challenges that the submarines presents in terms of precedent-setting, there won't always be answers that will satisfy our neighbours," he said.
ABC
