Australian FM Penny Wong said on Tuesday that her country’s strategic ties with India are very important for the balance of power in the world, in light of China’s unprecedented military modernisation.
Wong, who is in New Delhi for the 2+2 ministerial dialogue, warned that China is in the process of modernising its military at a scale “never seen before in the world.”
“China continues to modernise its military at a pace or scale not seen in the world for nearly a century with little transparency. North Korea continues its destabilising behaviour with its ongoing nuclear weapons programme and ballistic missile launches,” Wong said.
Speaking at an event at Delhi University’s Lady Shri Ram College, the Australian diplomat said that Australia’s partnership with India is crucial for the “strategic balance of power” in the region.
Australia and India, along with the US and Japan, are part of a four-nation strategic grouping called the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), which largely aims to counter China’s expansionist moves and domination in the Indo-Pacific region.
At 🇦🇺🇮🇳 2+2, Australia Foreign Minister Penny Wong, says this is a partnership which is "consequential to us, crucial to our region"; Adds, We see India as "central to region" wr sovereignty is respected. 🇨🇳 pic.twitter.com/Ila5gQ7T2i
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) November 20, 2023
Reiterating Australia’s commitment to the region, Wong called for partnerships to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific.
“The Indo-Pacific region requires partnerships to ensure a free and open order and to ensure that it is not dominated by any power. That is the vision of a region that is grounded in sovereignty,” Wong said.
The FM added that India is crucial to this power structure because it contributes to the strategic balance of power in the region. Australia encourages “mutual strategic reassurance and military risk reduction measures,” she said.
Earlier on the same day, Wong met her Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar in New Delhi for the Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue.
Along similar lines, Australian Deputy PM and Defence Minister Richard Marles had said on Monday that China is the “biggest security anxiety” for both India and Australia and underscored the need for them to coordinate in this aspect.
“We share an ocean and in that sense, we are neighbours, and there has never been a more important time for our two countries to be working together,” Marles stated, stressing the importance of cooperation on maritime domain awareness.