  We investigate the emergence of orientational order among +1/2 disclinations
in active nematic liquid crystals. Using a combination of theoretical and
experimental methods, we show that +1/2 disclinations have short-range
antiferromagnetic alignment, as a consequence of the elastic torques
originating from their polar structure. The presence of intermediate -1/2
disclinations, however, turns this interaction from anti-aligning to aligning
at scales that are smaller than the typical distance between like-sign defects.
No long-range orientational order is observed. Strikingly, these effects are
insensitive to material properties and qualitatively similar to what is found
for defects in passive nematic liquid crystals.
