Programs & Projects

Perspectives on India brings together the Lowy Institute's expanding range of publications and activities related to this rising great power. Themes covered include India's strategic and economic outlook as well as the prospects and challenges surrounding deeper Australia-India relations. The centrepiece of the Lowy Institute's work on India is the annual Australia-India Roundtable, supported by the Australia-India Council and in partnership with the Indian Council of World Affairs.

Australia-India student crisis Clear the air with India In this op-ed in The Australian, senior Lowy researchers Fergus Hanson and Rory Medcalf argue that Canberra needs to commission an independent committee of inquiry to set the record straight about the crimes against Indian students in Australia, and to pressure the Victorian government to provide comprehensive information. This, it is argued, will be an essential foundation for rebuilding the damaged Australia-India relationship. The Australian, 18 February 2010, p. 12 Download item (64KB)

Rory Medcalf opinion piece Threat to cricketers may heal relations In an opinion piece in The Age, Rory Medcalf, Program Director International Security, coordinator of the Australia-India Roundtable, suggests that the threats by India’s Shiv Sena extremists to ban Australian cricketers will alienate mainstream Indians. He... More   Indian students in Australia Media raising a scare will do more harm than good In this opinion piece in India’s Mail Today newspaper, Lowy Institute coordinator of the Australia-India Roundtable Rory Medcalf argues that sensationalist media reporting putting a racial angle on the crimes against Indian students in Australia is not in the... More

Rory Medcalf book review India: Leaving the village behind In this major review essay for The Australian Literary Review, Lowy Institute Program Director Rory Medcalf examines how some important new books on India can help Australians to understand this rising mega-democracy. The Australian Literary Review, 2 December 2009, ppp. 12-13 Download item (115KB)

Australia-India relations Problems to partnership: a plan for Australia-India strategic ties In this Lowy Institute Policy Brief, Rory Medcalf, Program Director International Security, argues that Australia and India must not squander the chance to build a strategic partnership. Recent bilateral difficulties, such as over student welfare, have at least focused high-level attention on the relationship. A security declaration would be a positive step, but would need to be more than rhetoric, and include practical ideas for defence, intelligence and diplomatic cooperation to meet common challenges. Meanwhile the uranium export question has not gone away. Download item (430KB)

Rory Medcalf opinion piece Tightening an obvious tie In this opinion piece in the Indian Express newspaper, International Security Program Director Rory Medcalf argues why India would benefit from recognising the value of prioritising a strategic partnership with Australia, in the week that Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd visits India. Indian Express, 11 November 2009 Download item (59KB)

Australia-India relations After the perfect storm: Indian students in Australia In this Lowy Institute Perspective, Janaki Bahadur draws upon her experience as an Indian-born journalist living in Australia to look below the surface of this year’s controversy about the welfare of Indian students in Australia. She identifies the commercial and nationalistic drivers of the sensationalised Indian media coverage, while also observing that the intense media attention exposed genuine problems, not so much about racism as about the quality of vocational education on offer and the motives of Indian vocational students in Australia. She concludes that the storm may ultimately lead to more sustainable education and immigration policies along with improved Australia-India ties. Download item (320KB)

Australia-India nuclear diplomacy Unconventional partners: Australia-India cooperation in reducing nuclear dangers In this Policy Brief, International Security Program Director Rory Medcalf and his Indian co-author Amandeep Gill argue that an innovative partnership between Australia and India would help erode the entrenched blocs that impede progress on nuclear disarmament. Their recommendations include: a leaders’ statement; a specialised bilateral dialogue; and practical cooperation on non-proliferation export controls, with Australia promoting Indian involvement in the so-called Australia Group to raise comfort levels between New Delhi and other such arrangements. This publication was produced under the Lowy Institute’s partnership with the Nuclear Security project (www.nuclearsecurityproject.org). Download item (555KB)

New Lowy Institute Policy Brief Australia's poisoned alumni: international education and the costs to Australia In this new Lowy Institute Policy Brief, Executive Director Michael Wesley analyses the multi-faceted international student debate. It canvasses the dynamics of the international student industry and the social, economic and criminal issues faced by international students during their time in Australia. Wesley scutinises the wide-ranging implications of the problem and considers that if left unaddressed, it is likely to worsen. The paper, with its considered and instructive policy recommendations, represents an independent and relevant contribution to the debate with Wesley forewarning the potential creation of a poisoned alumni. Download item (780KB)

Rory Medcalf article Troubled waters in need of oil In an article in leading Indian current affairs magazine Tehelka, Rory Medcalf, coordinator of the Australia-India Roundtable, proposes some ways to deal with the crisis over the safety of Indian students in Australia. The Australian Federal and State governments have responsibilities, as do universities, but the Indian media also has a part to play. Download item (69KB)

2009 Australia-India Strategic Lecture India's security challenges: Pakistan, Afghanistan and the neighbourhood In the 2009 Australia-India Strategic Lecture, delivered at the Lowy Institute on 11 May, Ambassador Chinmaya Gharekhan examined India’s dangerous neighbourhood, and in particular the deep security challenges posed by the situations in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He presented a sobering picture of the prospects for these countries, and the implications for India and other countries threatened by jihadist terrorism. Ambassador Gharekhan's lecture can be downloaded here: India's security challenges - PDF (167KB) His speech can be heard here: India's security challenges - MP3 (20MB) Video of this presentation is also available. More

Australia-India strategic ties Indian election win good for Australia: Rory Medcalf interview International security program director Rory Medcalf's assessment of the importance of the Indian election result was drawn upon extensively in the Australian Financial Review. Mr Medcalf, who served as a diplomat in New Delhi and coordinates the Australia-India Roundtable, argued that the convincing win by Congress is the best chance yet to strengthen Australia-India strategic ties in addressing common challenges such as Pakistan, Afghanistan and the implications of the rise of China. More

Rory Medcalf opinion piece Mumbai terrorist attacks In this opinion piece in the Australian Financial Review, International Security Program Director Rory Medcalf assesses some of the repercussions of the Mumbai terrorist attacks. He judges that military confrontation between India and Pakistan is unlikely, and that India might instead focus on its response on fixing its domestic security capabilities. Mumbai underlines the common cause the West and India have in Afghanistan. Australian Financial Review, 2 December 2008, p. 55 Download item (30KB)

Australia-India strategic ties Bridging the nuclear divide In this opinion piece in the Indian Express, International Security Program Director Rory Medcalf argues that India should appreciate that Australia has come a long way in changing its nuclear policy by supporting the US-India deal in the Nuclear Suppliers Group. The next step should be for India and Australia to work together on arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament initiatives. Indian Express, 10 September 2008, p. 10 Download item (80KB)

Security challenges for a rising India Wednesday Lunch at Lowy - Rahul Roy-Chaudhury presentation On 4 June at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, leading Indian strategic analyst Rahul Roy-Chaudhury looked at India's changing strategic outlook, including in its dealings with Australia and the Asia-Pacific in a presentation entitled 'Security challenges for a rising India: Responsibilities and liabilities'. His presentation can be heard here: Security challenges for a rising India - MP3 (17MB) More

Nuclear arms control India's disarmament drive an idea worth pursuing India's tenth anniversary commemoration of its nuclear weapons tests was curiously low-key. In this opinion piece in The Australian, International Security Program Director Rory Medcalf argues that India's rekindled rhetoric about nuclear disarmament offers diplomatic openings for Australia and other countries interested in reducing nuclear dangers globally. The Australian, 12 May 2008, p. 8 Download item (64KB)

Australia-India relations Hesitating on the brink of partnership In this piece for the East-West Center, Washington, International Security Program Director Rory Medcalf argues that Australia and India are hesitating at the brink of real partnership in their strategic relations. It will take sustained political will on both sides over the next few years to bring the relationship to its potential. If these hopes end up unfulfilled, the reasons could well be connected to Indian perceptions, however misinformed, about Australian policies on uranium and on China. Download item (193KB)

2008 Australia-India Strategic Lecture The promise and the limits of the US-India relationship The 2008 Australia-India Strategic Lecture was presented at the Lowy Institute on 25 March 2008 by Ambassador Lalit Mansingh. The title of his lecture was 'The promise and the limits of the India-US relationship: What it means for Asia and the world'. The partnership between India and the United States has been a central part of the story of India's changing place in the world in recent years, and Ambassador Mansingh has played a singular role in the transformation of the relationship between the world's two largest democracies. He is a former Indian Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to the United States. His visit to Australia was supported by the Australia-India Council, the Lowy Institute's partner in the Australia-India Strategic Lecture. Ambassador Mansingh's lecture can be heard here: 2008 Australia-India Strategic Lecture - MP3 (23MB) Download item (248KB)

Australia-India strategic ties India should play its part In this article in new Indian publication Pragati ('Progress'), International Security Program Director Rory Medcalf argues that Australia alone cannot do all the running in building a strategic partnership with India. India needs to recognise Australia as a serious strategic player in the Indo-Pacific region, not just a US ally or an adjunct to ASEAN. He also suggests that India needs to recognise the genuineness of Australia's motives on nuclear arms control, and that new efforts at co-operation between the two countries in this field could eventually help to generate bipartisanship in Australia on supplying uranium to India. Pragati: The Indian National Interest Review, No. 11, February 2008, pp 2-4 (online at http://pragati.nationalinterest.in) Download item (397KB)

Australia-India relations Time to lift our game and engage India In this opinion piece in The Age, international security program director Rory Medcalf argues that recent progress in China-India relations is a reminder that Australia needs to invest more seriously in its India diplomacy. The Age, 17 January 2008, p. 15 Download item (61KB)

Interview on ABC Radio National Australia-India strategic ties On 9 February, International Security program director Rory Medcalf was interviewed by ABC broadcaster Geraldine Doogue on her Radio National program, Saturday Extra, on the challenge of advancing Australia's strategic ties with India. He argued that Australia needs to raise its India relationship to the same level as its links with Beijing, given India's massive growth potential as an economic and military power. The interview also considered the rising importance of the Indian Navy and prospects for revisiting Australian uranium sales to India. A podcast of the interview can be heard here: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/saturdayextra/stories/2008/2157619.htm More

Dealing with a powerful India Wednesday Lunch at Lowy - Rory Medcalf presentation At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 20 June, Rory Medcalf, Program Director International Security, assessed the likely impacts of a powerful India on Australia's future strategic environment. He drew upon his experience as a diplomat in New Delhi to consider the sources of India's new confidence as a geopolitical player, the drivers of Indian strategic behaviour, and the prospects for security partnerships with New Delhi. He suggested that, for Australia, the hard decisions in engaging India lay ahead. This presentation was reported widely in the Indian press. His presentation can be heard here: Dealing with a powerful India - MP3 (19MB) More

The nuclear non-proliferation system Uranium for India: avoiding the pitfalls In a new Lowy Institute Policy Brief, Ron Walker, a former Australian Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, warns that selling uranium to India without the same legal obligations and non-proliferation standards that apply to our other customers could undermine our broader foreign policy interests and weaken the national consensus to continue uranium mining and exports. The Brief argues that instead of making an exception for India, Australia should work to strengthen the international nuclear non-proliferation system and engage India in that process. The result could be a more effective non-proliferation regime and one that includes India and, potentially, one day, the other two NPT holdouts. Ron Walker is a Visiting Fellow at the Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy at the Australian National University. He was Chairman of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1993-1994. Download item (352KB)

Opinion piece in Times of India Uranium thorn This opinion piece by Rory Medcalf in the Times of India is a version of an article previously published in the Australian Financial Review. It argues that Australia should try to reconcile its uranium and non-proliferation policies with India's rise. Times of India, 20 April 2007 Download item (16KB)

Nuclear issues and international security Uranium and India: keep options open Rory Medcalf, Program Director, International Security, writes in this opinion piece that Australia should try to reconcile its uranium and non-proliferation policies with India's rise. Australian Financial Review, 4 April 2007 Download item (16KB)

The Indian economy Roaring tiger or lumbering elephant? After years of economic underperformance, the Indian economic model has been transformed, and with it, India's growth performance. So much so that the last two years have brought both a widespread rethink on India’s prospects and a wave of foreign portfolio investment. This new-found optimism received something of a setback earlier this year, when there were sharp falls in Indian stocks markets. In a new paper that updates the analysis in his Lowy Paper 'India: the next economic giant', Mark Thirlwell takes another look at India's development model, evaluating both its strengths and its weaknesses and highlighting the idiosyncratic nature of India’s development path. Download item (259KB)

The rise of India India: the next economic giant This Lowy Institute Paper by Mark Thirlwell assesses the emergence of India as a major new player in today's global economy. It provides an overview of India's sustained progress with economic reform to date, examines the degree of the economy's re-engagement with the rest of the world, and describes some of the challenges that still lie ahead. The Paper also analyses the implications of the rise of this new economic giant for the international economy and for Australia. India: the Next Economic Giant was officially launched by the Minister for Trade, the Hon. Mark Vaile, MP, in Sydney on Friday 13 August. To order a hard copy of this publication click here. Download item (1.1MB)