As the world focus shifts from Europe to Asia Pacific, relations between India and Australia assume added significance.
The synergy between the two great democracies of the world came under sharp focus during the recent visit of Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard to India.
Both countries have tried to shed the irritants in their relationship, the prickliest of which were the security of Indian students in Australia and New Delhi’s long-awaited Uranium supply.
Both countries have tried to capitalise on such similarities as the Westminster style of governance, the strength of cricket and geo-political changes ushered by the rise of China as an economic power.
India and Australia are graduating to the status of ‘great powers’ exercising considerable influence in the Asia Pacific region.
It has taken some time for both countries to pursue their strategic and diplomatic maneuvers that are normal for federal governments.
Strategic relations
India and Australia are pursuing diplomatic conduct with a clear understanding of their vital stake in shaping the course of events in Asia Pacific.
Therefore, it is important for both to strengthen their strategic relations.
India and Australia maintain cordial trade relations with China, ignoring (almost to a fault) Beijing’s indifference towards democracy and human rights.
From Australia’s point of view, there is a need for a more focused attention towards the countries of the Indian Ocean. Such a need was addressed in its ‘White Paper’ on the Asian Century.
The Australian engagement in regional affairs is underscored by visits to friendly countries and participation in summits and conferences as an observer.
Canberra is also conscious of the growing need to foster ties with New Delhi in order that it has a ‘rightful position’ as India’s economic power becomes more pronounced in the coming years.
One of the most interesting commonalities between India and Australia relates to maintenance of political stability, simultaneously fostering ideologies that are conducive to growth and development.
Non-Alignment Policy
Internal stability also becomes paramount to foreign policy.
India’s steadfast belief in non-interference in the domestic affairs of other countries and Non-Alignment, the cornerstone of diplomacy propounded by the country’s first post-independent Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, has earned global respect and admiration over the years.
Ms Gillard and her delegation were indubitably aware that these values, augmented by India’s rising middle class with a high propensity to earn and spend and its youthful population, would be central to the future of Indo-Aussie relations.
The issue of sale of Uranium to India is a seriously debated topic in the Australian Parliament and within the echelons of the ruling Labour Party.
India has not been able to tap into Australia’s huge uranium resources because of Labour’s policy to block supplies to countries that are not signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Washington moves
The US policy has been helpful in this connection. Washington’s decision to bring India out of isolation from the so called ‘Nuclear Club’ through the ‘123 Agreement’ has had a number of positive side-effects.
Although not a member of NPT, India has earned worldwide reputation for its integrity and adherence to the principles of the Treaty.
This alone would clear the way for Australian Uranium to flow into India’s nuclear plants, which, as New Delhi insists, have been built only for peaceful purposes and stabilise the country’s energy supply.
Ms Gillard and her Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Sigh agreed during their talks in New Delhi (on October 17, 2012) on the need to enhance each other’s diplomatic presence and promote higher levels of bilateral relations.
They also discussed the growing need for joint military exercises and exchanges and a joint defense and security pact.
Observers in New Delhi believe that the visit of Ms Gillard was significant and that it would open a new chapter in the relations between the two countries.
“It is time that both countries forged a more strategic partnership that would establish a more stable future for Asia Pacific,” they said.
Balaji Chandramohan is our Correspondent based in New Delhi.
