Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held 2+2 Ministerial meetings with Australian Minister for Defence Peter Dutton and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Women Marise Payne in New Delhi on Saturday. The leaders discussed the comprehensive strategic partnership between both nations, cooperation in COVID-19, human migration, Indo-Pacific, maritime security, and cybersecurity, among other topics.
As per the joint statement, both sides welcomed the promotion of a bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) during the June 2020 Leaders Summit. The ministers also acknowledged the progress made to strengthen bilateral relations in political, economic, defence, and security matters.
The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the full implementation of the CSP, which they said is based on mutual trust and understanding, common interest, and shared values of the rule of law and democracy. They also emphasised the importance of promoting free and open Indo-Pacific, aligning with India’s increasing engagement in the region via the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative and Australia’s Indo-Pacific approach and Pacific Step-Up strategy. Additionally, to realise the full potential of strategic partnership, the ministers suggested expanding cooperation under the 2+2 framework and meeting at least once biennially.
Regarding economic cooperation under the CSP, the ministers appreciated the progress made by both countries to reach an early harvest announcement by December 2021 on a provisional agreement aimed at liberalising and deepening bilateral trade in goods and services. They also hoped for a balanced trade agreement.
COVID-19
Talking about COVID-19, the leaders embraced the cooperation and coordination between both nations in dealing with the pandemic. They agreed to strengthen collaboration to ensure fair and equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and medical supplies worldwide, including through the World Health Organization (WHO)-led COVAX initiative. The ministers welcomed India’s ‘Vaccine Maitri’ initiative and agreed to deepen cooperation in vaccine manufacturing, including under the Quad framework to deliver vaccines to Indo-Pacific partners, and noted vaccination as the path out of the pandemic.
The leaders also acknowledged the cooperation between Indian and Australian researchers to advance COVID-19 screening and study its future health effects via projects funded by the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund and underpinned the importance of global collaboration to prevent outbreaks of infectious diseases.
In addition, the ministers stressed the importance of promoting supply chain resilience and agreed to strengthen and diversify supply chains for goods and services. They also welcomed the ‘Supply Chain Resilience Initiative’ by India, Australia, and Japan. Furthermore, the ministers pledged support for global economic recovery and highlighted the importance of promoting economic openness and opposing coercive practices that violate the rules-based trading system.
Indo-Pacific, Regional and Multilateral Cooperation
Regarding maritime challenges in the region, the ministers agreed to continue cooperation as per June 2020’s ‘Joint Declaration on a Shared Vision for Maritime Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.’ The statement read: “The enhanced arrangements would facilitate deeper engagement between both countries, including maritime domain awareness, and expand linkages between maritime agencies, build on existing commitments to combat challenges such as marine litter and single-use plastic waste, and target Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.” They also agreed to support the health and sustainability of water resources.
The ministers reiterated their commitment to free and open Indo-Pacific that supports “freedom of navigation, over-flight and peaceful and unimpeded commerce by adherence of all nations to international law including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and peaceful resolution of disputes.” They also discussed the code of conduct in the South China Sea and emphasised that the behaviour must be per international law.
Additionally, both sides reaffirmed their support to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and agreed to work with East Asia Summit to discuss the region’s strategic issues.
The ministers then reaffirmed their commitment to the Quad partnership, including Japan and the United States and welcomed the Quad leaders summit held in February and March 2021. They appreciated its plan to enhance cooperation in COVID-19 vaccines, climate change, humanitarian aid, maritime security, disaster relief, infrastructure, technology, and counter-terrorism. The ministers hoped for continued consultations on these matters under the Quad framework.
The leaders further talked about climate change, energy security, environmental degradation, international solar alliance, coalition for disaster resilient infrastructure, and opportunities to deepen collaboration in research and investment in low emissions technology.
Moreover, they discussed the developments in Myanmar and Afghanistan. Australia also congratulated India for its non-permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) until 2022. It welcomed India’s presidency initiatives focused on maritime security, technology, counter-terrorism, and peacekeeping and reaffirmed support for its permanent membership at the UNSC.
Bilateral Cooperation
The leaders welcomed the progress in bilateral cooperation, noted the importance of enhanced defence cooperation between both countries, and discussed various initiatives. They agreed to reinforce maritime domain awareness via information sharing and collaboration and utilise resources to maintain free and open critical naval corridors in the Indo-Pacific.
The ministers also reviewed the regional strategic and security challenges and committed to keeping seas, airways, and space free and open, secure nations from terrorism, ensure responsible use of global commons, and secure global cyberspace from disruptions. They reiterated the importance of collaboration in defence technologies and cybersecurity, as underlined by the Framework Arrangement on Cyber and Cyber-Enabled Critical Technology Cooperation between India and Australia.
Apart from this, they agreed to cooperate on cyberspace, cybercrime, and telecommunications safety and looked forward to holding an India-Australia Foreign Ministers Cyber Framework Dialogue at the earliest. The leaders also discussed cooperation in space, critical minerals, disarmament, non-proliferation, arms control, and terrorism.
People-to-People Ties
The ministers recognised people’s role in strengthening bilateral relations and economic ties and looked forward to early Migration and Mobility Partnership Arrangement. They also hailed the success of the recently concluded India-Australia Circular Economy Hackathon in February 2021 and agreed to convene similar events in the future.
Lastly, the leaders looked forward to holding the next 2+2 Ministerial dialogue in 2023.
After concluding the ministerial dialogue, the Australian ministers met Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi. The PM appreciated the productive 2+2 discussions and noted the strategic partnership between both countries. A press release by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs stated that several issues, including expanding strategic and economic cooperation, the Indo-Pacific region, and human migration, were discussed. Moreover, PM Modi appreciated his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison’s role in advancing the strategic partnership and invited him to visit India at his convenience.