A three way deal between Japan to supply India and Australia with advanced submarines would make things tough for China. And I am sure that at this point with the shenanigans of China in the South and East Seas many Asian countries would welcome China having feelings of encirclement.
Australia is already considered an extension of the United States and its possible acquisition of Soryu class submarines changes little. The same is not true of India.
As for welcoming China’s fear of encirclement, do you actually think these things through? Germany did not initiate WW1 because she felt overwhelmingly secure in her power, but because she felt increasingly vulnerable to the Franco-Russian pincer. A nation that is threatened will attempt to address that threat. The resulting increase in military spending would not only be unfortunate for humanity at large, drawing resources away from more productive pursuits, but would result in the balance of power tipping further in China’s favour more rapidly than it otherwise would, because China has far more reserve capacity to draw upon than any of her neighbours, most certainly including India.
As for Indo-Sino relations more broadly, China has recently emerged as India’s largest trading partner and has just announced investments in India worth $100bn — three times the amount pledged by Japan. The new BJP government has embraced China warmly (for an overview, read here) and there is even renewed activity towards resolution of outstanding border issues.
For all these reasons India would of course be sensitive to China’s strategic concerns. Given that there is no overwhelming reason to choose the Soryu boats in preference to other candidates (in fact they are likely to be even more expensive than offers from European nations, to say nothing of Russia), it is unlikely that such a purchase would be made.
I would say the cheapest and safest way to address the issue is to order a couple of improved Kilo to recapitalize the russian built SSK line, signing an option to purchase two more if 75I program won’t take enough momentum.
I agree that this seems the best stop-gap solution available. BlackArcher earlier noted a similar proposal.
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