AIBC conducts webinar on the outcomes of recent Quad summit

In the wake of the momentous March 12 Quad summit, which saw the leaders of Australia, India, Japan and United States coming together virtually, signaling a milestone in the strengthening bond between the four nations, the Australia India Business Council (AIBC) conducted a webinar on March 30 to debate the potential outcomes of the Quad summit in terms of the business and trade ties between India and Australia.

AIBC, which has been fostering bi-lateral trade relations between the two countries ever since its inception in 1986, has in the past also hosted such pivotal discussions to comprehend the profound implications of bilateral and multi-lateral meetings featuring India and Australia.

Among the panel of key speakers were Jim Varghese AM, National Chair AIBC; Dr. Ashutosh Misra, CEO and Executive Director , Institute for Australia India Engagement, Editor-in-Chief INDIA NEWS Australia; Dr. Nik Senapati, AIBC Queensland President; and Muthuraj Guruswamy, AIBC Queensland Committee Member.

Broadening outlook for stronger partnerships

Introducing the panel of speakers, Dr. Nik Senapati invited Jim Varghese AM to open the discussions, who went on to praise the agility of AIBC in pushing ahead with the agenda of increasing the trade and investment opportunities. Dr Ashutosh Misra

Sharing his reflections on the media analysis of the Quad, he stated that the re-emergence of the Quad in recent times is of strategic significance and it is apparent that the Quad is placing an emphasis on practical actions that the four countries in the Quad can take rather than narrowly defining itself as a bulwark against China’s expanding role in the economic, military and strategic presence.

With the Quad leaders focusing on a free and open Indo-Pacific region, Varghese stated that the ambition of such engagements is leveraging partnership to help the world’s most dynamic region respond to crisis. There is a growing need for closer cooperation specifically between India and Australia in matters such as supply of cheaper goods, countering cyber-attacks and telecommunication deployment. The spirit of the Quad is to have an Indo-Pacific which is free, open, inclusive, healthy, anchored by democratic values and unconstrained by coercion. However, the key challenges are the economic and health impacts of the Covid-19, climate change, cyber space critical technology, counter-terrorism and humanitarian assistance for disaster relief; and to address these issues, working groups are being formed.

Tracing the Quad’s evolution and Ind-Aus bilateral history

Dr. Ashutosh Misra delineated the global context leading to the Quad’s fruition and also focused on the bilateral relations between India and Australia. The Quadrilateral comprising US, Japan, Australia and India transpired in 2007, but it was bogged down by certain differences between India and Australia. However, more recently there has been an upswing in bilateral relations in terms of defence, business and trade ties between US and India; India and Japan; and Australia and India. Now, with US President Joe Biden hosting the 12 March inaugural Quad summit, the diplomatic ties among the four nations have reached a new high. It is notable that by keeping a broad agenda of Covid-19 strategy, vaccine production, climate change, supply chain resilience, critical and emerging technologies; and a free, open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific, the Quad nations succeeded in downplaying the mutual “Anti-China” concerns and thus avoided disparaging China unnecessarily.

Jim Varghese AM

Dr. Misra also recapitulated the consistent progression of India and Australia relations which had begun to come into the limelight with the materializing of a strategic partnership in 2009 which was further elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership with the signing of nine Memorandums of Understanding in the historic June 4, 2020 virtual summit amid the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite noticeable rise in volume of trade which made India Australia’s eighth largest trade partner which is still way below the potential. With the reports of both Peter Varghese and Ambassador Wadhwa recommending more profound involvement of India and Australia as trade partners, Dr. Misra hailed the two reports as the “Magna Carta” of bilateral trade and business ties. He also stated that although the initial context which played a crucial role in bringing India and Australia together were the two nations’ subjective acrimonies with China, both the countries have since then realized the broader advantages of closer ties.

AIBC Queensland President Dr. Nik Senapati

Highlighting the likely opportunities for Australia and India, he remarked that as both nations are keen to expand business and trade relations in sync with new geopolitical realities, they are well-positioned for a leadership role. Moreover, both nations have immense opportunities in a wide array of fields including education, agriculture, energy, resources, tourism and healthcare to name a few. He also emphasized that the role of AIBC, Indian diaspora and the larger community is vital to fortify the ties between the two countries.

AIBC Queensland Committee Member Muthuraj Guruswamy

This was followed by a question and answer session to follow up on the points highlighted. One of the participants queried about the role AIBC and other concerned groups can play in easing capital mobility and investment from Australia to India. Dr. Misra replied by saying that India’s economic strategy has changed substantially to facilitate greater foreign investment and Australia can thus look forward to more propitious business opportunities in India in the near future. He also said that AIBC and other organisations committed to promoting bilateral ties between the two nations must take concrete steps to enlighten the Australian businesses about the nature of the Indian market and other dynamics at play.

Muthuraj Guruswamy closed the curtain on the webinar by thanking all those who had made the webinar possible and the participants who joined the session as well as the panel of speakers who edified the deeper factors at play to gain a better insight into the impending developments in the Indo-Pacific.