Opinion Australian for fear

In the context of strategic interests,India and Australia are in many ways natural allies,not least because both have a vested interest in the stability and peace in Asia. Both want to prevent emergence of a “hegemone” in the Asian region. However,natural allies can sometimes become artificial adversaries,and the challenge is to prevent inevitable relationship irritants from adversely impacting overall bilateral ties. In other words,insulate the growth of bilateral relations from being undermined by any single issue. There is also a need to promote greater understanding between societies. In this age of post-modernism,India and Australia have the responsibility to construct in our imagination and in more material form a security community in Asia of which they will be the central pillars.

India’s Look East Policy,though primarily focused on South East Asia,also emphasises the significance of Australia,New Zealand and the South Pacific Island States. While India has consciously tried to forge relationships and support and strengthen existing regional initiatives of cooperation such as ASEAN,Australia has tended to also support the creation of new parallel initiatives. For example,Labour Prime Minister Hawk initiated APEC in 1989 minus India and decades later the current Labour Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has introduced the idea of the Asia Pacific Community with India,but minus uranium. Such postures and attitudes are at times seen as patronising and lack an understanding of India’s sensitivities.

The Indian diaspora is an important point of contact for the growth of bilateral ties. The immigration of Indians to Australia is a fairly recent phenomenon and there is no comparison with the “old Indian diaspora” of immigrants who went overseas in the nineteenth century,especially under the indenture system. Contemporary attitudes shape the identity of what is known as the “new Indian diaspora”. There are about 234,000 Indians in Australia,constituting the third largest source of immigrants to Australia,after UK and New Zealand. In recent years,Australian universities have greatly increased the intake of fee paying Indian students who have become crucial to Australia’s economy and education industry. In the 1990s,when Australian universities were little known in India,it was the good word of those who had studied there that helped in projecting Australia in positive terms to prospective students. An Australia government document of 1996 states “…the Indian target audience does perceive Australia to be a safe and tolerant society,one where parents could feel comfortable about the physical and emotional well being of their children.” Unfortunately,the recent harassment of Indian students not only impacts on Australia being a preferred destination,but also puts a severe strain on bilateral relations. The Australian government will have to be more proactive if the country is to be seen again as being non-discriminatory and not judging the people on the basis of their religion or colour of their skin.

Cultural diversity needs skilful and sensitive handling by the host country. The spate of attacks on Indian students and Dr Hanif’s case has raised fears about the possible revival of the erstwhile “White Australia” policy. Australia needs to rise beyond this. With a distinct multicultural identity and important strategic interests in Asia,the partnership with India is critical for Australia to make the transition to being a ‘real’ Asian power.

The writer is a professor at the School of International

Studies,Jawaharlal Nehru University