Helping to address the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar is pivotal to maintaining the credibility of India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Act East’ policies.
Almost 30 years after India and China agreed relations would not be held hostage to the territorial dispute, it remains a source of mistrust and hostility.
The stakes – who gets to construct the legal, economic, and military architecture of an integrated Indo-Pacific region – are enormous. Without bold policy from the US and India, the answer will be China.
Australia has a perfect right to form associations, groupings, dialogues and alliances with whomever it chooses. But wise statecraft does not deal only with entitlements and rights.
The view that India is reluctant to engage Australia in a multilateral naval setting because it is wary of Canberra’s strategic credentials lacks merit.
Though it was clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not be attending, China expected at least a ministerial level summit participation from India.
The latest election results strengthen Modi’s hold on political power in India, but we can expect a lot more of the same in his approach to international affairs: some risk-taking, more energy, greater clarity, and a dash of showmanship.