Deeper Military Ties with India Likely: Reynolds

India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to visit Australia this year as part of efforts by the Morrison government to build ties with the world’s second most populous nation as a check against China.

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds announced the likely visit during a speech to a Perth defence conference on Monday, where she warned the Indian Ocean was becoming more “congested and contested”.

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds: “Australia has tended to see itself as a Pacific Ocean state.” Alex Ellinghausen

Efforts to deepen ties with India have come in fits and starts. While Australia has rejoined the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with India, the US and Japan, Canberra’s desire to participate in joint exercises under the Quad umbrella have been rebuffed by New Delhi.

However, the communique following last week’s AUSMIN talks between Australian and US officials emphasised several times the “growing strategic and economic importance” of India and desire for further collaboration.

India and China have eyed each other warily under their respective leaders Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping. While they held an informal summit last year, Mr Modi is critical of Mr Xi’s signature Belt and Road Initiative.

Fresh strains re-emerged last week over India’s decision to impose direct rule in Kashmir. While Pakistan is India’s main protagonist over Kashmir, China also claims territory in the disputed border region and offered support to Pakistan and condemned New Delhi’s move.

While India has been ambivalent to engage with Australia on the multilateral front, Senator Reynolds said bilateral defence co-operation between the two countries had “flourished” in the past decade.

The level of activities between the two militaries had jumped from 11 in 2014 to 38 last year, while this year’s joint AUSINDEX maritime exercises off the Indian coast were the most complex yet and focused on anti-submarine warfare, she said.

“But there is scope to further increase the depth and complexity of our co-operation both on land, at sea and in the air,” Senator Reynolds said.

She conceded the Indian Ocean had not got the attention it deserved from policymakers, while Australia’s Antarctic claim meant Southern Ocean security also had to come into focus.

“The Indian Ocean has not always received the same level of attention in our strategic thinking as the Pacific Ocean,” she said.

“Australia has tended to see itself as a Pacific Ocean state.”

Senator Reynolds also flagged a desire to strengthen co-operation with Indonesia, with both countries committed to the principles of freedom of navigation and overflight.

While Indonesia is not a claimant in the South China Sea, Jakarta has boosted its military presence around the Natuna Islands in the face of Chinese incursions.

Opposition defence spokesman Richard Marles backed the need to build ties with India and Indonesia.

“Australia’s defence relationships in the Indian Ocean region must be pursued with vigour both bilaterally and through multilateral exercises and engagement activities,” he told the Indo-Pacific Defence Conference.

The fresh push to engage with India comes after a split emerged in government ranks over backbench MP Andrew Hastie’s attack on China’s growing assertiveness.

Scott Morrison said the government was well aware of the complexity of managing the relationship with Australia’s largest trading partner.

“We’re also careful as a government to ensure that we don’t seem to make them even more complex,” he said.

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Source: AFR

Image Courtesy: Reuters

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