New Delhi: Australia and India are working together to shape sovereignty in the Indo-Pacific region where “no one dominates or is dominated”, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Tuesday.
“Australia has a responsibility in the collective deterrence of aggression in the Indo-Pacific. By working with India, we are seeking to change the calculus for any potential aggressor,” Wong said further in a subtle dig at China during her address to students in New Delhi.
The remarks come a day after Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, along with Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Wong, addressed the second India-Australia 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue.
Hours after discussing crucial issues such as migration, trade, climate change, maritime security and more with her Indian counterpart Jaishankar at the Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue Tuesday morning, Wong highlighted the significance of the strategic partnership between the two ‘joint custodians of the Indian Ocean’.
“Australia and India are working on shaping a region grounded in sovereignty, where a larger country does not determine the fate of a smaller country and where each country can pursue its own aspirations, where no one dominates or is dominated,” Wong stated. “Sovereignty might be exercised alone but it can only be assured together.”
“China continues to modernise its military capabilities at a pace and scale not seen anywhere in the world for nearly a century with little transparency or assurance about its strategic intent,” she observed.
The two countries, along with the US and Japan, are security partners in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD). The alliance acts as a forum to discuss shared concerns over China’s increasingly assertive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific region.
Highlighting Australia’s unprecedented challenges, including China’s tactics in the South China Sea, in the Indo-Pacific, Wong observed: “We see tensions rising between states with overlapping claims and disputed borders. Compounding that have been dangerous encounters on land, air and sea,”
Last week, Australian deputy PM and defence minister Marles revealed that several Australian divers from the HMAS Toowoomba were injured from alleged sonar pulses emitted by a Chinese warship in international waters off Japan. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese Monday, accused the Chinese naval ship of “dangerous, unsafe and unprofessional” behaviour.
Apart from Chinese aggressions, Wong also highlighted the numerous conflicts across the globe, from Russia’s “illegal and immoral” war on Ukraine, Hamas holding hostages at “the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza, to North Korea’s destabilising impact.
On the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, the Australian foreign minister noted that Canberra is “working with countries with influence in the region to protect and support civilians, to help prevent conflict from spreading and to reinforce the need for just and enduring peace in the region”.
Acknowledging the importance of the Indian diaspora in Australia and the people-to-people ties between the two countries, Wong announced a new Maitree fellowship programme where Indian researchers can work in Australian think tanks for 6 months to 2 years while Australian researchers work in India.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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