New Delhi: Australia is engaging with India as a “friend” when it comes to allegations of Indian activities against Sikh separatists on American and Canadian soil, Australian High Commissioner Phillip Green said Wednesday.
“Australia is engaging with India on this issue less as a Five Eyes partner and more as a friend… (we) are respectful of India with which we have a mature relationship. We discuss these issues sensitively and carefully behind closed doors,” said the high commissioner, speaking at an event organised by policy institute Asia Society in New Delhi.
The Five Eyes is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US.
The comments by Green, who took over as high commissioner this June, come amid a US federal investigation into whether an Indian government employee was involved in an alleged assassination attempt on Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
India and Canada are also engaged in an ongoing diplomatic spat over the latter’s allegation that Indian agents were involved in the killing of another Sikh separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Reports indicated that one of The Five Eyes members provided Ottawa with intelligence on Nijjar’s killing. When Canada made the allegations, Australia had called them “serious” and expressed Canberra’s support for the “rule of law”.
While delivering a keynote address at the event in New Delhi, Green said: “We’ve (India and Australia) had our differences and we’re managing sensitive issues — including the concerns we have about alleged activities on US and Canadian territory.”
Last month, foreign ministers of the two countries met in Delhi and discussed the diplomatic spat over Nijjar’s murder.
“Yes, I spoke about it to (Australian) Minister (Penny) Wong today. Australia has a good strong relationship with both countries. So, it was important that Australia got our perspective on the issue,” External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had told the media shortly after the meeting.
“From our point of view, the key issue is really the space which is being given to extremism and radicalism in Canada,” he had added.
Military threat from China
While delivering his keynote address, the Australian envoy emphasised the need for an India-Australia strategic alignment in the face of growing Chinese military build-up along the Indian border.
“This (Chinese military) build-up is occurring without transparency, or reassurance to the region about its intent. Such actions by some countries encroach on the ability of others to fully exercise their sovereignty and to decide their own destinies,” he said.
This comes as India and China are engaged in a tense border standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) since 2020. Australia, too, has been engaged in a trade war with Beijing, though there has been a recent diplomatic thaw with the rolling back of trade bans.
Australia has been ramping up its military from acquiring nuclear-powered submarines and long-range strike systems to manufacturing guided munitions and upgrading critical air bases.
But it’s not enough, said Green.
“Australia’s defences are not enough alone…India is an indispensable partner, critical for achieving the sort of strategic equilibrium that we need,” he stated.
Military cooperation between the two countries has been ramped up this year — Indian submarines docked in Australia, Quad nations participated in the Malabar Exercise and two Indian military aircrafts visited the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
According to the high commissioner, the two countries can do more in the maritime domain by routinely using each other’s offshore territories to expand their strategic reach, and perhaps, exchange and integrate personnel and equipment someday.
“I want to see Indian officers at Australia’s joint headquarters, embedded alongside the Australian Defence Force,” he added.
‘Indian batteries should be made with Australian lithium’
While speaking about trade, Green said his country could offer India critical minerals such as lithium, which would help with its green energy transition.
“I want Indian batteries made with Australian lithium. I want Indian green steel made with Australian green iron. I want Indian solar panels made with Australian silicon,” he said.
Australia supplies more than half of the world’s lithium, and is the second-largest producer of cobalt and the fourth-largest producer of rare earths.
However, the Australian high commissioner said there was no deadline for a comprehensive free-trade agreement (or a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, CECA) currently being negotiated by the two countries.
“We have had some good rounds of negotiation. We have a lot of text settled. We know India is focused at present on getting to the finish line with the UK. We are ready to conclude our second phase in due course, but our focus will be on ambition — a good deal, not any deal,’ Green said.
Last year, the two countries inked a mini-trade deal known as the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA). The CECA will be a larger, more comprehensive deal.
The ECTA has proved handy for India.
For example, Australia rolled out a new migration strategy earlier this year but it won’t affect the post-study graduate visa negotiated for Indian students under the ECTA.
2024 Quad meet
On Tuesday, reports emerged that the Indian government was looking to push back the Quad Leaders’ Meet from 27 January to a later date since next month was not convenient to all partners. The US, Japan and Australia are part of this diplomatic alliance with India that concentrates on the affairs of the Indo-Pacific.
India had apparently invited US President Joe Biden as chief guest to the 2024 Republic Day ceremony, to capitalise on his presence for the Quad meeting the next day.
“While today’s news is that President Biden is unable to travel to India in January, Australia will continue to work closely with India and other partners to support its efforts to host a Quad Leaders’ Summit next year,” Green said in his address.
He noted that in 2019, Quad was a “loose” grouping with no fixed agenda and at times, no substantive statement. “Contrast that to what we see now — we have delivered three Quad Leaders’ Summits,” he remarked.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
Also read: China expects Nijjar Pannun saga to affect India-US ties. It won’t, here’s why