India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has visited Brisbane, Canberra and Sydney on his second visit to Australia this year, part of a two-nation tour strengthening India’s trade ties with Australia.
In Brisbane, Minister Jaishankar inaugurated India’s fourth consulate in Australia, announced in May 2023 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Australian visit. Minister Jaishankar also paid tribute to a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Roma Street Parklands and addressed Indian diaspora at the University of Queensland.
Here, he made note of Queensland’s economic importance to India, noting, “75 per cent of Australia’s exports to India actually come from this state.” Additionally, he described the bilateral relationship as a ‘comprehensive strategic partnership’, a term only afforded to ‘very select countries’.
Dr Jaishankar also visited the Humanitarian Logistics Capability warehouse in Brisbane, which maintains the largest stockpile of prepositioned humanitarian emergency relief supplies within the Southern Hemisphere, and has the capacity to respond to three simultaneous crises.
Minister Jaishankar’s next stop was Canberra, where he engaged in framework dialogue with Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong, the main purpose of his visit.
Minister Wong praised the ‘excellent discussions’ they had had, announcing a First Nations business mission to India to promote the ‘excellence, ideas and unique offerings of First Nations businesses to new markets’, and $1.6 million in funding for six projects under the Australia India Cyber and Critical Technology Partnership.
The Australia India Institute, the ANU, the CSIRO, the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, Monash University and the National Institute of Strategic Resilience have all received grants towards projects on priority areas such as undersea cables, responsible development principles for quantum technologies and digital public infrastructure.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Ministers Jaishankar and Wong addressed the recent escalation of Canada-India relations, India-Chinese border disengagement, as well as the effect the US election outcome, particularly the prospect of a Trump presidency, will have on the Quad.
Both Ministers were keen to retain Quad relations regardless of which presidential candidate succeeds, Minister Wong reserved in her presidential predictions, but Minister Jaishankar highlighting ‘steady progress’ over the last five presidencies.
“I remind you that actually, the Quad was revived under a Trump presidency in 2017. It was then moved from the level of a permanent secretary to a minister, also during the Trump presidency,” Minister Jaishankar said.
“We are very confident that whatever the verdict, our relationship with the United States will only grow.”
Regarding the allegations of Indian Government involvement in the murder of a Canadian Sikh, Minister Jaishankar had three strong comments to make.
“Canada has developed a pattern of making allegations without providing specifics. Secondly, when we look at Canada for us the fact that they’re putting our diplomats under surveillance is something which is unacceptable,” he said.
“Third, the incidents which the gentleman there spoke about, do look at the video, I think they would tell you in a way the political space today which is being given to extremist voices there.”
Our growing relationship with India matters to Australia.
Great to meet with External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar today in Canberra. 🇦🇺🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/B4CJ5nkAGo
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) November 6, 2024
Minister Wong on the other hand, reiterated Australia’s position on the matter, raising this issue, as well as the future of the Quad, during their recent discussions.
“We have made clear our concerns about the allegations under investigations. We’ve said that we respect Canada’s judicial process,” she said.
“We convey our views to India as you would expect us to do. And we have a principle position in relation to matters such as the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary and also frankly the sovereignty of all countries.”
The recent Sikh extremist attack on a Hindu temple in Brampton Canada has caused much consternation in India this week, with Minister Jaishankar describing the incident as “deeply concerning”.
Minister Wong was judicious in comments on the vandalism of Hindu temples in both Canada and Canberra, pointing to a ‘multicultural democracy’ in which Australians are ‘entitled to be safe’ but also ‘express their views peacefully’.
“People across Australia have a right to be safe and respected,” she said.
“People also have a right to express their views peacefully, we draw a line between that and violence, incitement of hatred, or vandalism and they should be dealt with by the appropriate law enforcement authorities.”
The following day, Minister Jaishankar participated in Raisina Down Under 2024, where for which saw the foreign ministers of Australia, India and New Zealand come together for the first time to discuss priorities in the Indo-Pacific, and opportunities for greater collaboration.
On the sidelines of the event, he met with Winston Peters, Deputy PM and Foreign Minister of New Zealand, discussing “education, technology, agriculture, people-to-people ties, and exchanged views on Indo-Pacific and global issues.”
Minister Jaishankar also met Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Deputy PM and Defence Minister Richard Marles, and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.
In Canberra, the minister enjoyed a session with members of the Australia-India Parliamentary Friendship Group, and is expected to attend a lunch with the NSW Parliamentary Friends of India when he arrives in Sydney today.
