Carnegie India
Foreign ministers from India, France, and Australia recently met (virtually) at the Raisina Dialogue, India’s flagship annual conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics. What can they get done if they work together?
The balance of power in the Asia Pacific is undeniably shifting as a result of the growing power and influence of China, the rise of other middle powers, and the prospect of Western retrenchment.
The international order is undergoing a transformation as a result of rising geopolitical tensions among major powers, growing challenges to the liberal order, slowdown in the global economy, and rapid technological development.
India and Australia have shared interests in ensuring the peaceful development of an open, inclusive, and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
Unlike the European colonial powers, which could easily prevail over natives of the strategic island territories, today’s major powers have to deal with the more complex domestic politics of the island nations.
New Delhi, Canberra, and Wellington did not appreciate China’s aspirations to become a great global power and thus did not assess the strategic consequences for their own respective regions.
It’s time for India, France, and Australia to join forces. This innovative security triangle is no flight of think tank fancy, but an ambition now being considered at the highest levels of policy.
India’s issue with quadrilateral cooperation among India, Japan, Australia and the United States is no longer about the principle. New Delhi will sit down with anyone in any kind of forum if that serves India’s national interest.
India’s engagements in the emerging Indo-Pacific security architecture should be reexamined to reflect new regional realities.
One way of lending substance to the Indo-Pacific cooperation between India and Australia is to identify specific subregions for practical cooperation, such as the Bay of Bengal.
Stay connected to the Global Think Tank with Carnegie's smartphone app for Android and iOS devices