The Tuesday Interview | 'India, Australia natural partners with complementary strengths'

Barry O’Farrell is in the last month of his tenure as Australia’s High Commissioner to India. In Bengaluru for interactions with the new Karnataka Government and the Australian businesses in the city, O’Farrell said ties between India and Australia in diverse sectors—from defence to technology to critical minerals—were deepening with the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), signed in 2022. Speaking with DH’s R Krishnakumar, he underlined the geographical and economic contexts that made the two countries “natural partners”. The High Commissioner also spoke about lessons from Covid, the importance of engaging with state governments, and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy trumping the storied rivalry of The Ashes.

You have had a meeting with Siddaramaiah, the new chief minister of Karnataka.

What Australians understand is that in countries like India and Australia, it is not just the national governments that we need to engage with. National governments sign agreements, but trade deals are operationalised in the states. We hope to continue the strong engagement that we have had with the Karnataka government across sectors, from technology to water management.

I have interacted with the leaders of Australian businesses operating in Bengaluru. Their response (to the opening of the consulate) has been very good. There is also considerable interest in the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement that has been in discussions since Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Australia last month.

How far has work progressed on the Australian Consulate in Bengaluru?

We hope to open the consulate as quickly as possible. I expect to have a team in place within a couple of weeks.

How have you seen the ties between the two countries evolve during your tenure since 2020?

Over the past three years, notwithstanding Covid, we have seen greater engagement in established areas of cooperation, like defence, education, science, and research. Our new Centre for Australia-India Relations (which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced last month) will help this further through the various grant programmes in education and research, as well as cultural exchanges.

For the first time, both governments are putting in serious efforts to ensure that the business-to-business relationship is just as strong as some of those traditionally key areas. We hope that the ECTA signed last year brings down tariffs on (the export of Australia’s) critical minerals and accelerates growth in the electronics, EV, and solar panel industries. In defence, we had the strongest relationship before Covid and that has become more open.

The deepening bilateral ties are also being seen in the context of the strategic competition with China...

There were a lot of these engagements, including in education, well before the more recent increase in strategic competition in the region. The defence relationship was already strong. The fact that we share the neighbourhood is important to us. We can both help each other because we have different strengths. The relationship did take a step forward because of Covid but it was less about the strategic and more about the economic lessons from Covid.

We have all realised that we are either buying too much from or selling too much to single countries or suppliers. The idea of trusted partners and secure supply chains has come to the fore. We have found natural partners in each other. We have economies that complement each other.

What do you see as significant in Australia’s new terms of engagement with Bengaluru and other Indian centres in the education sector post-National Education Policy (NEP)?

Australian universities have been offering joint PhD programmes with institutions in Bengaluru, and these ties will only grow. I have been surprised by the response of Australian universities to NEP. I thought it would take several years for our universities to take up the opportunities under the new policy, but we are about to have the first two foreign university campuses established (Wollongong and Deakin, in Gujarat’s GIFT City). From the early signs, the policy could provide international universities with more practical opportunities to engage with Indian students in-country.

What can India expect from Australia in addressing issues like the recent vandalism in Hindu temples?

India can expect Australia to stand up for the values we believe in, and that includes a complete opposition, including legislation, against hate speech. When we see a small number of incidents like this that are offensive to one community or one faith, Australians are equally disgusted. The Prime Minister has made it clear that the right to protest and freedom of speech do not allow anyone to engage in hate speech.