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It was further damaged in 2020 when then Australian PM Scott Morrison called for an independent assessment of the origins of the Wuhan virus to which Beijing reacted very strongly with the threat of “economic coercion”. Their relationship hit a roadblock in 2018 when Australia barred Chinese telecommunications company Huawei from building its 5G network. However, it is interesting to note that this meeting comes in the backdrop of Australia-China relations thawing with trade ministers from both countries meeting in February 2023. To this end, PM Modi has even hinted at a “Look Pacific” policy reiterating the centrality of the India-Australia partnership in the Indo-Pacific. PM Modi’s visit to Australia has sent a strong message to counter China’s growing influence. The bilateral meeting comes even as the Quad leaders’ summit has been cancelled. In his first visit, he had said that “Australia will not be in the periphery of our vision, but at the centre of our thoughts.”Īlso Read: Indo-Pacific strategy bound to fail, says Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in 1st press meet The Prime Minister is on his second official visit to the country now. The relationship has gone from strength to strength since the Modi government came to power in 2014.

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The two countries are fine examples of important liberal democracies that are shaping the future of the region, based on their shared values for the rules-based international order and a free and open Indo-Pacific. Australia is the pivot to India’s move in the Pacific to counter Chinese interests. But what is less discussed is that India’s upwardly mobile ties with Australia are becoming the country’s gateway to a rejuvenated diplomatic push in the whole of the Pacific. The relationship has, in the recent past, been revived to hitherto unknown heights including with a historic free trade agreement as part of the Quad format with the US and Japan. The fast-developing India-Australia relationship has been one of positive transformation in response to common challenges faced by the region. For some time there has been a need for the world’s democracies to come together on a common platform to create conditions which obviate the need for war to settle disputes. Unfortunately, we see a similar fragility playing out in the Indo-Pacific region, where Chinese aggression is impacting the littoral nations in the South China Sea as well as the Indian Ocean. The continuation of the Russia-Ukraine war has been a reminder of the fragility that exists in the world order.

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