When AUKUS is Sold as a Mauka

As far as broken promises go, there has been a parade of late - BJP's Babul Supriyo 'going back on his word' that he would take political sanyaas and then going ahead to join the opposite camp in West Bengal; Amarinder Singh being made to hoist with his own petard despite winning Punjab for a victory-parched Congress in 2017, etc. But nothing beats the rug being pulled under France by Australia as it reneged on the contract it had signed for 12 diesel submarines and opt to build nuclear-powered subs with US (and British) help. Mon dieu, isn't anything sacre any more?!

Apart from the Aussies ditching the French to join a new club with the cranky acronym Aukus - that, for Hindi ears, sounds very much like 'mauka', which for the Aussies it is, to show the Yanks that they aren't buddies with China - the tearing up of the French-Australian contract simply attests to the latest craze: no pact is compact, not geopolitically, not entrepreneurally, not matrimonially, not spiritually.

Too much cynicism in September, you say? Well, it's cost-benefit that turns the world, honey. But, remember, the market value of Vibhishans follow a graph of diminishing returns. Which, incidentally, is why contracts were invented in the first place. So, if you want to pair up with Australia, be a bit careful, mate. It's your realpolitik versus their realpolitiktoktik.