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.
Sharing facilities and information can vastly improve the naval reach of India and Australia as well as contribute to the construction of a stable maritime order in the Bay of Bengal and the eastern Indian Ocean.
New coalitions like India, Japan and Australia will still lack sufficient weight to balance China on their own. But in developing an agency of its own and taking a larger share of the burden of Asian security, the India-Japan-Australia coalition will send strong messages to both China and the United States.
Through his visit across the eastern seas, Modi affirmed that India under the NDA government has entered a new era of economic development, industrialization, and trade.
Modi’s decision to visit Fiji underlines the new commitment in New Delhi to bridging the gap between the potential and reality of Delhi’s reach in the Indo-Pacific.
There is a growing recognition in New Delhi that Australia is a valuable partner in stabilizing Asia.
It is time for new and creative ways to deal with Asia’s strategic uncertainties.