Chair: Dr Rajaram Panda, Cluster Coordinator China and East Asia Cluster

Mr. Peter Jennings, Deputy Secretary for Strategy, Department of Defence, Australia, visited IDSA on 6 December for interactions with the scholars. He was accompanied by Group Captain Timothy Innes, Defence Adviser, Australian High Commission, New Delhi and Ms. Susan Bodell, Strategy Executive, Department of Defence.

Mr. Jennings stressed that Australia was aware of the fact that in the twenty-first century, Asia has become the center of global politics. Asia’s power and influence has arrived much faster. Today, the US is the sole superpower with both China and India rising rapidly. All these factors put together drive Australia’s India policy.

Closely connected with the points mentioned is the strategic significance of the Indian Ocean which is world’s third largest Ocean and is a leading seaway for the energy supplies and flow of immense volume of trade. Security of the Indian Ocean goes to the heart of both Australia and India. It is marked by the presence of large and growing powers. This requires Australia to put security at the heart of the strategic considerations. Therefore, Australia has listed the maritime safety and security as one of the major issues concerning its strategic considerations. As much as 70 percent of global oil shipments pass through Indian Ocean-from Middle East to the Pacific. This includes major supplies for countries like China as 85 percent of the Chinese oil imports cross the Indian Ocean. As a result, China is showing greater interest in this Ocean. The US also has recognized the importance of maritime issues related to the Indian Ocean. In this regard, the US-India relationship is important. Australia considers it a positive development. This was very much recognized in the 2009 Defence White Paper of Australia, which said that the Indian Ocean is going to be much more significant by the year 2030. Clearly, a number of major powers are competing for strategic advantage in the region.

All this has implications for Australia’s relations with India. Australia needs to engage India, which, owing to the consistent economic growth, a huge population and rising military power, is increasingly becoming an important nation of the world. Australia has shared interests with India, contributing to the regional security architecture.

Shared values of democracy, rule of law, people to people contacts and business interests are also bringing the two countries together. Bollywood is another interesting connection. For instance, in 2009 the bilateral trade reached 20 billion dollar mark and India became the third largest partner of Australia, which indeed is a positive sign.

However, one must say that the bilateral relation has not gathered momentum as much as it should have. The Australia-India relations have not been developed fully, the potential for which are quite good. Both Australia and India are committed to building good relations. Both are maritime powers, and there is ample scope for naval cooperation. A positive step in that direction was taken in November 2009, when Australia and India signed the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation. Australia and India are working towards establishing dialogues concerning defence issues. This is important as the strategic dynamic is shifting and issues such as piracy, Sea Lanes of Communication, Climate Change and resource security are becoming more and more important.

In this context, Indonesia also becomes important. Indonesia is now a robust democracy. In 2011, it will hold the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Chair. There are prospects of more and more security cooperation and ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Plus (ADMM+) is of significant importance in that respect. Another organisation of importance is the IONS, established by India. Australia supports India in IONS.

Mr. Jennings’ final message was that it is the strategic interest, which is driving the two countries together, and Australia and India are building ties on shared values and interests, and the future of the bilateral relationship is promising.

The talk was followed by a brief discussion on issues related to India-Australia relations and regional security issues. The issue of uranium export and the attack on the Indian students in Melbourne also discussed and clarification given.

Report Prepared by Rahul Mishra, Research Assistant.