The Importance of a Strategic Partnership With Asia

I had been very clear with President McQuan, with a manual, that Australia had formed a view and reached a view that conventionally powered submarines were not going to meet our strategic interests. I think we would have seen an armada of French diplomats descending across the Atlantic to see this end. But frankly, they weren't the only ones doing that at the time post-enhancement. India and Japan were very, very obvious. They could see what it meant in the region. And all of this adds up to one thing, credible deterrent. Without a credible deterrent in the Indo-Pacific, there can be no peace and stability.