India-Australia Strategic Partnership: A chance to develop synergies
India and Australia's relationship has never had a defined name and category. It for a long time was dubbed a "natural" relationship because both the countries share similar "values" and "history". However, experts had it that for the majority of the time, these were blurred, or rather overshadowed for more reasons than one, and scholars called it sheer "negligence". Some intellectuals tried to explain this ignorance in the context of the differing liberal identity that the two states have, as has been the case during the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and Russia's annexation of Crimea or their dealings with China. Both the countries had different understandings and positions. Nevertheless, these odds couldn't come in the way of the flourishing trade that the two countries manifested. Therefore, this single aspect transpires and crosses over all the factors that keep the two states apart and offers a common pathway of trade and development.
In his visit to Australia in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi espoused, “This is a natural partnership arising from our shared values, interests and strategic maritime location". A similar expression was found in PM Tony Abbott remarks where he referred that there's a "natural affinity" between the two countries. Hence, on both sides, the leadership is in consensus over the fact that there is potential for this friendship to flourish, and the "diplomatic vacuum" of decades can be filled.
India refused to join RCEP because it would not be in sync with India's policies. However, India was in constant negotiations with Australia concerning the FTAs. Though India has a trade deficit with several countries, including Australia, the future seems hopeful owing to their Comprehensive Economic and Strategic Partnerships. The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Virtual Summit in 2020 explored a wide range of factors and undertook measures to strengthen the ties between the two nations. It included measures to enhance science, technology and research collaboration, diversify health care supply chains, work on maritime cooperation for an Open and Inclusive Indo-Pacific along with sharing technological and resource support for the betterment of ocean and water resources, and agreed to work on better defence cooperation, military interoperation ability through the agreement that concerns Mutual Logistics Support. Moreover, they decided to cooperate at the regional and multilateral level by propagating a shared vision for an open, accessible and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, supporting regional architecture with ASEAN in the loop, and countering terrorism. This plan has always been on India's list.
Albeit all the aforementioned measures are crucial, the economic aspect defines the depth of a relationship accurately. Both the countries have decided to work on "economic cooperation" that brings a more prosperous shared future. Recently, India and Australia agreed to sign a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) by 2022. This will help both the countries sign a Free Trade Agreement, the interim agreement in sync with WTO's article 14. This diplomatic win and economic engagement opened the flood gates of opportunity for empowering economic ties, further deepening the diplomatic arrangement between the two countries.
Australia has never shied away from expressing its desire to actively involve India in terms of trade, mainly because India has a lucrative market size and abides by the rule of WTO. Australia aims to make India its third-largest export market by the end of 2035. In the absence of FTA, the trade relations between the two managed to be around the US $16.6 billion in 2018. In the wake of a potential FTA, these boundaries are set to explode. There would be greater dealings, and as concluded in the 2020 meeting, both the states are actively taking measures to solve the tax and tariffs dispute.
Furthermore, an FTA and better economic engagement would be a "win-win" situation for both countries, conceived by the Australian leaders. India currently suffers a crunch in domestic Coal, and Australia can be a helping hand. Coking Coal is the primary export of Australia to India, and under the current negotiations, India can broker a better deal. Moreover, there has been heavy investment by Indian companies in Australia in the mining sector. The Australian investment can be of use in the development of the Indian mining industry. Thus, this would help Indian companies have better access and relatively easy negotiations. Likewise, India has been trying to launch RuPay Card in Australia. These measures put together would facilitate the trading aspect, which would help India fix its trade deficit with the country while simultaneously making gains for both the states alike.
The two states have way more commonalities and grounds to cooperate in. Apart from Coal and trading investment, agriculture, tourism, and MSMEs can bring maximum gains. In addition, the countries signed an MoU in Water Resources Management as they both faced the water crisis. Lastly, education remains a lucrative option. They recently signed an MoU on Cooperation in Vocational Educational and Training that would force measures in policy developments, information exchange, and student level ties.
There are endless possibilities that are yet to be explored or are to reach their best potential, for instance, in tourism, energy supplies. However, there has been mention of the need for cooperation in pumped hydro storage, clean energy technology, cost-effective battery technologies, hydrogen and coal gasification and fly ash management technologies as the significant areas of collaboration where the countries aspire to cooperate further.
Though the road ahead seems to be filled with plenty of opportunities and gains for both countries, there are still some obstacles on the way. The primary cause of concern has been the environmental challenges and concerns raised by aboriginals or indigenous people for foreign investors. For instance, there has been a long-standing protest against the Carmicheal coal mines over the issues that would wreak havoc in the Great Barrier Reef. Similarly, there was massive criticism and legal assaults on the approval of Adani's groundwater plan. However, on the flip side, if the cooperation is done on a diverse ground, it can, in reality, help improve the climate crisis. India can use Australia's high-grade goal that would bring down its carbon footprints, and the use of uranium can be promoted, which will help India shift to clean nuclear energy.
The much-anticipated deal, Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) will be signed by the end of 2022. This will cover a wide spectrum of areas of trade in goods and services. The PM of both the countries met in the United States and discussed at lengths the majors to further scale up the partnership and trade between the two countries. They would consider government procurements, energy resources, logistics and transport along with standards and rules of origin.
To conclude, there's a lot in store for Australia- India partnership in general and their trade ties. Following the possible FTA deal, there is an enormous opportunity for both the countries to overcome their long-held "negligence" and foster their "natural" alliance traits. Both the countries have a rich share of one thing, which could help mend a shortage and facilitate growth. If India has better technology, agriculture and milk production, and substantial market size, Australia has rich energy reserves, Coal, uranium, and other supplements. A partnership would help them explore the untapped potential and be crucial for India to bring its trade deficit to an end. Few concerns over environmental issues can be adequately addressed, and through active diplomatic channels, they can further help collaborate on climate safety and fix many more problems. In addition, a good partnership would help them counter the Chinese aggression of land, sea and trade.
References
1. The natural/neglected relationship: liberalism, identity and India–Australia relations -Priya Chacko & Alexander E. Davis
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09512748.2015.1100665?needAccess=true
2. India, Australia agree to sign a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement by 2022 end, The Economic Times, 2021.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/india-australia-agree-to-sign-a-comprehensive-economic-cooperation-agreement-by-2022-end/articleshow/86656215.cms
3. India, Australia Agree to Conclude Free Trade Pact by 2022-end; Early Harvest Deal by Dec, News 18, 2021.
https://www.news18.com/news/india/india-australia-agree-to-conclude-free-trade-pact-by-2022-end-early-harvest-deal-by-dec-4268309.html
4. Australia wants FTA with India to be a ‘win-win’ for both sides, Times of India, 2021.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/australia-wants-fta-with-india-to-be-a-win-win-for-both-sides/articleshow/86719261.cms
5. Free Trade after RCEP: What Next for India? ORF Issue Brief, 2020.
cbnaodkpfinfiipjblikofhlhlcickei/src/pdfviewer/web/viewer.html’file=file:///C:/Users/Dell/OneDrive/Desktop/ORF_IssueBrief_353_RCEP.pdf
Pic Courtesy-Joey Csunyo at unsplash.com
(The views expressed are those of the author and do not represent views of CESCUBE.)
Khyati Singh has a Masters in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University. Her research interest includes AI, Great Debates, Grand Theories, International Relations, and Post Colonial Literature in IR.
