Aussie PM walks the tightrope

Everybody forgot the horrendous murder of Graham Staines, the Australian missionary who was killed along with his two young sons in January last year in Orissa, a gruesome incident that shocked the world.

It was later left to a spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs, who in answer to a question told reporters that Howard and PM Vajpayee “noted that the killing of Graham Staines and his sons was a tragic crime and that the law was taking its course backed up by a strong and independent judiciary.”

Howard did not raise the current spate of attacks on Christians in India with Vajpayee, the spokesman added, restricting his remarks to the murder of Staines and his sons.

At the press conference, however, Howard spoke of the need to inject “new vigour” into the relationship, pointing out that India’s nuclear tests had indeed imposed a “strain” and while Canberra had not withdrawn its criticism on this matter, it did not want one issue to “contaminate” bilateral ties.

Clearly, both sides seem to be returning to a business-as-usual spirit, knowing well that continuing antagonism could become too wearying an emotion. There is talk of an Australian consortium setting up a LNG plant at Gopalpur, in Orissa, coincidentally the same state where Graham Staines spent most of his life.

At one point during the press conference it seemed that the air was getting a bit ticklish, when Howard was asked to comment on the British decision to upset the informal Commonwealth embargo on Pakistan and sell arms to that country.

But Howard was not fazed. Saying that the Commonwealth should really stick to issues of international concern like “good governance” and not get “involved in bilateral issues,” he proceeded to give a clean chit to Britain, from where he had arrived yesterday after participating in the centenary celebrations of Australia’s independence from London.

“Britain,” said Howard, “is not the only arms vendor in the world,” prefacing that remark with, “I would not dare to give gratuitous advice to anybody.”

Fiji, meanwhile, is said to have been the story that broke the ice between India and Australia, after the mutual anger following the Pokharan tests. It is said to have dominated political conversations during Howard’s visit, and even though Canberra has no intentions of immediately applying economic sanctions on Suva (“We will continue to exert pressure and apply advocacy,” said Howard), both capitals have promised to keep in touch on the issue.