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FPRC JOURNAL
No. 4
FOCUS :
INDIA-AUSTRALIA
RELATIONS
Editor : Dr. MAHENDRA GAUR
Foreign Policy Research
Centre
NEW DELHI
FPRC JOURNAL
No.
4
FOCUS :
INDIA-AUSTRALIA RELATIONS
ISBN : 978-81-904361-6-8
© : Contributors
The views expressed in the
article are
the author’s own and not those of the
Foreign Policy Research Centre,New Delhi
All
Rights Reserved. No Part of this book may be
reproduced
in any manner without written permission.
India,
2010
FPRC, New
Delhi, INDIA
E-mail : fprcindia@yahoo.co.in
Website : www.foreignpolicy.in
CONTENTS
PREFACE
PREFACE
Should good bilateral
relationships be allowed to be governed or damaged by a single issue? The issue
of attacks on Indian students in Australia had the potential to affect
adversely the Indo-Australian relationship. In a statement in Australian
Parliament on 1June 2009,the
Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd admitted that recent unfortunate events threaten to
impair those good relations and said : “ I speak on behalf of all Australians
when I say that we deplore and condemn these attacks. These are senseless acts
of violence. --- We are a multicultural nation and we respect and embrace
diversity – diversity which has enriched our nation.” Rudd further said : “We have many
common interests – those of history; those of the present; and those of the
future as two Indian Ocean democracies.” Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith condemned “all attacks of this sort, whoever is the
target” and said : “More than 90 000 Indian students in Australia are welcome
guests in our country.” The violence against
Indian students was deplored by various political parties in Australian
parliament and one of them demanded a senate inquiry to examine the issues related to such students.
Indian
government, too, had no interest in allowing the crisis to "infect"
relations between the two countries. The two sides went into damage –control
mode swiftly and acted in tandem to deal with the situation. India was
concerned about safety of its students. As many as 22 attacks were reported on
Indians in Australia within a span of a month, raising an alarm back home and
prompting the Indian government to take up the issue with Australia. Parents of Indian students sought UN
intervention in the matter. PIL against Centre for ‘inaction’ against attacks
was filed in Supreme Court. The protestors in India torched the effigy
of the Australian Prime Minister and flags of the country as a mark of protest
against the continued attacks in Australia on the people of Indian origin.They
blamed the Australian Government for turning a blind eye as long as the money keeps flowing in. The continuing
attacks on Indian students in Australia came in for strong condemnation in
Indian parliament with the members calling for a parliamentarian delegation to
visit that country to study the situation. "One can't entirely blame the media if they get a story with
sufficiently sensational elements for playing with it”, said Indian Minister of
State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor.
During his recent visit to India, Prime Minister Kevin
Rudd repeatedly assured India that Canberra would bring to bear the full force
of law to ensure the security of Indian students and said : “It was time to set aside the differences
and ambivalences of previous times and forge a partnership based on economic
integration, free trade, security co-operation, and cultural links.” The strong
bonds and enduring shared interests bind India and Australia together.
Relations between India and Australia continue to expand across a wide front,
adding depth and breadth to the relationship. Both hold in-depth and wide-ranging
discussions about international and regional issues at regular intervals;
political links continue to expand, the bilateral economic relationship
continues to go from strength-to-strength, the Australian Government and the
governments of the Australian states have expressed their determination to
address concerns about the safety and well-being of Indian students in
Australia. Cooperation in science and education constitutes one of the most
dynamic parts of the Australia-India relationship. India, Australia
relationship is underpinned by diverse and expanding people-to-people links.
The Indian community in Australia is making a valuable contribution to building
Australian society and to enhancing bilateral links. Sport has long been a
strong bond between India and Australia. In 2008 Australia and India decided to
step up strategic cooperation. Australia and India also engage closely on
strategic and defence matters. The Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation
was adopted at the end of the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and
his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd in New Delhi on 12 November 2009.
The onus of improving, upgrading bilateral relations is on
both sides. There are a range of things that both should try to do to
ensure that the unfortunate events
don’t occur again. The Indian community in Australia, too, has to pull its
weight in promoting bilateral relations. Indians may not be as well established a community in Australia as they
are in the USA. But the Indian community in Australia can play an important
role in reducing the trust deficit.
There may be community leaders who stress that it is important to face up to
the fact that Australia is a racist country and if that fact is denied, then
this problem will not be solved. But Neville Roach AO, one of the
advocates of a strong relationship between his country of birth (India) and his
adopted land (Australia), and who has recently been appointed as a member of
the Indian Prime Minister’s Global Advisory Council, has very rightly
expressed the view that “we Indians
living in Australia have a responsibility to help the Australian and State
Governments to win back the confidence and goodwill of the Indian community
here and in India.” With 100,000 students and over 300,000 (settled) Indians
here, “it will be great if the seniors can reach out to them, become a mentor
to them, guide them,” the Indian High Commissioner to Australia, Sujatha Singh
told a select gathering of Indian
community leaders in Canberra in the last week of October 2009. The formation of an Indian lobby group would also be a possible help in the process. It can educate the local
Indian community on the various issues
and then from the grassroots, lobby with the parliamentarians about them ,
letting them know their feelings about various issues .
This issue of FPRC JOURNAL(No. 4) seeks to discuss the various
aspects of India –Australia relations.
We take this opportunity to thank all our contributors who have enriched the contents of the journal by their matured experience. During my visit to Sydney recently, I had an opportunity of
meeting many well-wishers. I take this
opportunity to thank Dr. Andrew Shearer, Director of Studies, Lowy Institute
for International Policy, Sydney, for useful exchange of views on
India-Australia relations. I also had the benefit of views of Dr. Yadu Singh,
Ex-Head of the Indian consul general’s Indian student safety committee and Rohit
Revo, Editor-in-Chief, The Indian, on the various aspects of
International education in Australia.
And how can I forget my
‘friend’ SHUBHANG who spent his time with me to make my visit to Sydney fruitful.
I shall be failing in my duty if I do not thank Dr. Indira Gaur for the valuable help provided by her in bringing out this issue of the Journal.
MAHENDRA GAUR
Director,
Foreign Policy Research Centre
NEW
DELHI
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