New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Australia delivered substantial outcomes, particularly in the defence and security sectors. Amid growing unease about depending on the US to resist China, Australia and India are eager to see how they can gain strength from each other, a report mentioned.
During the visit, PM Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese participated in the third Australia-India Annual Summit, where the two sides reviewed progress across the full spectrum of bilateral cooperation, including trade and investment, critical minerals, clean energy, technology, defence and security, education, skills, mobility, science and innovation, culture, sports and people-to-people ties. Both leaders also exchanged views on regional and global developments and reaffirmed their commitment to a free, open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
“The Summit witnessed finalisation of several MoUs in areas including defence, maritime security, energy including nuclear, critical technology, education, skilling among others,” the Ministry of External Affairs had stated.
A Joint Declaration on Defence signed during PM Modi’s visit is especially notable as, despite substantial growth, there is still a lot of room for improvement. The decision to build interoperability and information sharing between defence forces of two nations and to strengthen the complexity of defence exercises should be welcome, a report in Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s analysis platform, The Strategist, detailed..
The other important aspect of the declaration is its focus on strengthening regional security. The declaration calls for addressing disputes through peaceful means without resorting to force in line with international law, which is particularly welcome on the 10th anniversary of the UN Tribunal award favouring the Philippines.
“Probably the most striking part is the undertaking ‘to consult on defence-related developments in the Indo-Pacific that affect shared interests.’ This would have been unthinkable between Australia and India even a few years ago. As Griffith University professor Ian Hall has noted, this is language that is almost alliance-like, similar to the language used in the ANZUS Treaty (Article 3), which reads, ‘The Parties will consult together whenever in the opinion of any of them the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened in the Pacific,'” Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan wrote in The Strategist.
“This is notable because India has for decades avoided being confined to alliances, fearing this would restrict its manoeuvrability. There is little reason to wonder too hard about the reason for this change in attitude. Indeed, Modi’s Australia visit follows a highly successful visit by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to India at the beginning of July,” Rajagopalan added.
The second notable outcome of PM Modi’s visit was in civil nuclear energy sector and the sale of uranium to India. Australia previously restricted uranium exports only to nations with strong nonproliferation commitments, and India’s status outside of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was a major hindrance.
India, on the other hand, has repeatedly contended that, despite, not being a party to the NPT, it has abided by the treaty’s principles better than the signatories have. This used to be an issue of “much frustration” in India as Australia used to sell uranium to China despite it violating its NPT and Nuclear Suppliers Group commitments.
“Still, India and Australia have much to do. There is still insufficient joint action when it comes to meeting China coercion, including coercion through trade. It is time for Indo-Pacific partners to develop a format for joint response to Beijing’s aggressive tactics. We are used to thinking of trade as outside the realm of hard international politics, but this was never the case. In Napolean’s Continental System – which sought to economically isolate and blockade Britain – and in Cold War-era technology controls and many other examples, commerce has always been a tool used in great power politics,” The Strategist report mentioned.
(IANS)
