COVID-19 could give momentum to India-Australia relations
COVID-19 could give momentum to India-Australia relations
WRITTEN BY NIRANJAN MARJANI
29 May 2020
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to hold a virtual summit with his Australian counter-part Scott Morrison on June 4. Both the sides are expected to discuss a wide range of issues including the fight against COVID-19. Both are also expected to sign a number of pacts including Mutual Logistics Sharing Pact.
The virtual summit comes at a time when on the one hand the world is facing the widespread effects of the coronavirus crisis, while on the other hand there is increase in conflict and differences among countries in some cases because of COVID-19, but mostly because of other underlying geopolitical ambitions.
The potential of India-Australia relations remains to be realized fully. Despite being two major countries in the Indo-Pacific region and democracies, India-Australia engagements remain asymmetric to India’s engagements with other regional powers such as the United States and Japan.
While India’s relations with the US and Japan have developed independent of its relations with China, the same has not been the case with Australia. India and Australia ties have been more distant and both sides will have to create a strong base on which Canberra and New Delhi can build their strategic relations. As tensions with China rise, both in the South China Sea and on Sino-Indian border, it will be important for both the sides to be clear about the China factor in their relations. Furthermore trade should be the primary area to focus on for India and Australia as a step to strengthen their relations as they advance towards a joint strategy for the Indo-Pacific.
China factor in India-Australia relations
China, given its sheer size and recent assertiveness, has been an important factor in India-Australia relations. Balancing of relations with China has been considered as one of the factors which had been a major impediment in development of India-Australia relations. This is evident from Australia absence from the Malabar Naval Exercise. The Malabar exercise is a joint naval exercise between India, the US and Japan. Australia had requested to join the exercise on several occasions but its request has not been accepted, largely because the perception in South Block is that it would be a geopolitical red flag to China. Similarly, the proposed arrangement of the Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) between India, the US, Japan and Australia would be difficult to materialize if upsetting China would matter to all the proposed members.
However the COVID-19 crisis combined with China’s increasing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific is an opportunity for India and Australia to strengthen their relations. At the moment India’s and Australia’s relations with China are strained for two different reasons. Australia has been demanding an independent inquiry into China’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. This has caused rift between Australia and China which has resulted in China initiating a trade war with Australia. At the same time China is involved in a major border stand-off with India for almost a month now. China is also continuing with its expansionist activities in the South China Sea. India and Australia need to take this opportunity to build a strong foundation on which both can look forward to cooperate in the Indo-Pacific.
Recently, India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a telephone conversation with his Australian counterpart Linda Reynolds. Both the ministers discussed the challenges presented by COVID-19 and how strategic partnership between India and Australia is a basis for both to work together in the post-COVID-19 world.
India-Australia trade relations
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has identified India as Australia’s major trade partner. This is significant since this statement comes at the time when Australia is in the middle of tense trade war with China. Australia’s stand against China on COVID-19 has resulted in China responding with imposing high tariffs on products imported from Australia.
China is the largest trade partner of Australia in terms of exports. Australia’s exports to China are 32.7% of its total exports. India is the sixth largest export destination for Australia with 3.3% of the total exports.
Australia’s major exports to China are iron ore and barley. China has imposed higher tariffs on barley imports from Australia. Similarly China has made changes in the rules for importing iron ore. Trade war with China would have an adverse effect on Australia’s economy since it is heavily dependent on China.
There is a lot of scope for development of India-Australia trade relations, especially if compared to China. The trade between India and Australia was $30 billion in 2019 but it was $200 billion between Australia and China in the same year. India and Australia are also working on a possible free trade agreement. In 2018 Australia released India Economic Strategy 2035 report. According to this report, Australia has set a target to make India a top export and investment destination by the year 2035. At present Australia’s exports to India are more than India’s exports to Australia. India needs to work on this aspect and have a strategy of making Australia as an export destination. Increased trade and investments from both sides equally would benefit both.
India-Australia relations lack momentum. In December 2019, 2+2 Meeting was held between the foreign and defence ministers of both the countries. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was due to visit India following this meeting. But his visit had to be postponed because of bushfires in Australia. Right now also bilateral visits have not been possible because of the COVID-19 crisis. The virtual summit between both the countries should be a start towards providing a momentum which must be maintained by regular engagements.
DISCLAIMER: All views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of the 9DASHLINE.com platform.
Author biography
Niranjan Marjani is an Independent Journalist and Researcher based in Vadodara. His areas of interest are India’s foreign policy, international relations and geopolitics. He writes articles for various national and international publications. His articles mostly focus on the strategic angle of international politics. Image credit: Ministry of External Affairs (India)/Flickr.