China on their minds at India-Australia 2+2 meet

Be it Quad or countries in the Indo-Pacific region or India and Australia, preparations are on for cooperation between different countries wary of Beijing's moves

The recent 2+2 Minister level meeting between India and Australia completes New Delhi's set of such engagements with all the members of the Quad. India's first such exercise was with the United States, followed by Japan and Australia, all of whom work closely in the Indo-Pacific region. The incremental approach is guided by the changing geostrategic landscape in the region, measured in terms of China's rise.

A key component of India-Australia bilateral, Quad and multilateral engagements is the aggressive attitude of China. The trade showdown during US President Donald Trump's era, the outbreak of Covid-19 and the near-total shutdown of supplies from China last year made the world realise that dependence on one country can prove counterproductive. The accent since then is to develop alternate resilient supply chains, and India remains an important hub in this new calculation.

Interestingly, as the political establishment in Australia started paying greater attention to India, the latest poll by the Australian think-tank Lowy Institute has shown that public opinion in this regard is just about growing.

The polls said 61 per cent of Australians today trust India a "great deal/act responsibly", which is on par with the US. The poll findings showed that the quotient went up by 16 percentage points compared to the previous year. It said over fifty per cent of Australians continued to display "warm feelings" towards India. Where Indian rating is low among Australians is New Delhi not doing enough to combat climate change.

Read | 2+2 talks between India, Australia very productive: PM Modi

2+2 meeting

India and Australia's foreign and defence ministers drew a roadmap encompassing political, economic, security and defence-related issues underscoring the importance of "advancing their shared objectives of an open, free, prosperous and rule-based Indo-Pacific region, in line with India increased engagement" in this sphere.

The two ministers deepened bilateral defence and strategic ties, thus taking the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic Partnership elevated during Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison's virtual summit meeting last summer forward.

The meeting came ahead of two significant events that will have a bearing on the future trajectory of the ties.

It took place a fortnight ahead of the first in-person Quad Leaders' Summit scheduled at Washington DC. Five days after the 2+2 meeting came the announcement of AUKUS, a new trilateral security partnership agreed upon by Australia, the United Kingdom and the US in the face of security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.

The focus of the new partnership is four-pronged – enhancing cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and additional undersea capabilities with Australia tasked to build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines.

Neither the Quad nor AUKUS mentions China, but the country remains a concern for the Quad. Australia agreed to take upon the role of securing the maritime environment and global commons in the Indo-Pacific region.

Be it the Quad or countries in the Indo-Pacific region or India and Australia, the aggressive attitude of China, which is gradually seeking to expand its global presence, is being taken seriously. Preparations are on for cooperation between different countries that are wary of Beijing's moves.

After years of being wrapped in the world of Cricket and Commonwealth, India-Australia bilateral relations began to turn around at the beginning of this century as both sides started to look at it through the strategic prism and the vast ocean that connects the region.

The nature of India-US ties and altering equations with China encouraged both countries to engage in defence and strategic spheres. That the US remains a factor in Australian geostrategic calculations is known as the waters of the Pacific lap the shores of either country. The latest announcement of the creation of AUKUS reiterates this link.

Over the years, India's bilateral relations with Australia witnessed a quantum leap in the area of defence. After the country pulled out from the Malabar five-nation exercise after taking part in the naval exercise in 2007, Australia was readmitted. It took part in the first phase of the exercise hosted during August by the US off the coast of Guam.

This war-game exercise allows Navies of India, Australia, Japan and the US to demonstrate coordination, synergy and interoperability of the four countries on the high seas. Australia now invited India to participate in the 2023 edition of the Talisman Sabre exercise, its biggest war game in which the US also participates.

With India promoting defence manufacturing in the country, research through India's Defence Research Development Organisation and Australia's Defence Science and Technology group would allow both countries to explore critical technology amid India seeking access to source critical material from Australia.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajanth Singh met Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, and Defence Minister Peter Dutton sat down on September 11 for the first 2+2 meeting. They discussed the ongoing global Covid19 pandemic as well, especially work crafted under the Quad framework.

The two countries are studying the effects of the virus on future health, prevent and respond to reduce risks from future pandemics under the Australia-Indian Strategic Research Fund.

(The writer is a journalist based in Delhi)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.