Opinion A friendly southern face
Indias strategic partnership with Australia will depend on public diplomacy....
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is on his maiden two-day state visit to India since assuming power in November 2007. Rudd,even before he came to power,considered India as a major country in Australias foreign policy calculus,believing that Australia-India ties are not just about curry,the Commonwealth and a common language. He emphasised the need for an exclusive India desk within the department of foreign affairs and trade and argued for establishing regular prime ministerial visits to inject greater political ballast into this relationship. Now he needs to deliver.
After the Australia,India,the US and Japan quadrilateral initiative failed to reach anywhere largely due to the China factor,Kevin Rudd recognises the importance of this visit for Australias own standing and role in Asia. Any strategic initiative in Asia will be driven by the progress Australia makes at the bilateral level,especially with India. But the immediate challenges to the relationship are primarily that public opinion in India has turned adverse,especially in the wake of attacks on Indian students. In this context Kevin Rudds public diplomacy skills will be tested; after all,should public perceptions in India continue to plummet the envisaged India-Australia strategic partnership will reach nowhere. There is a case that although both sides do have common interests with regards to regional security in the Indian Ocean region,climate change,terrorism,stability in Afghanistan and nuclear proliferation,in the interim they cannot afford to overlook the students issue.
Although the number of attacks have gone down in recent months due to the initiatives taken by the Australian government and the Indian High Commission to address the security issues,these initiatives do not provide any long-term remedy for a complex and chronic problem plaguing Australias $15 billion international education industry.
It is interesting to note that the major occasions in which Australia has figured recently in Indian public opinion have been controversies: from the Muhammad Haneef case to the Harbhajan Singh row and now the attacks on students,they have all had an adverse affect on public perceptions in India of Australia and yet it remains a neglected aspect in their bilateral engagement. Commentary and analysis focuses on the nuclear issue,sale of uranium,business and trade,defence and security cooperation instead of confidence-building measures between the two sides.
In this visit if Kevin Rudd succeeds in reminding and convincing the Indian people that Australia is a desirable,multicultural destination,it will add ballast to the relations for sure. In recent months there have been ministerial -level visits exchanged but given the complex and unregulated nature of the international education sector it would be naïve to assume that anything tangible could be achieved from these.
Part of the problem is the divergent perceptions of the attacks itself. In India the dominant public perception is that the attacks are racially motivated,whereas in Australia it is perceived more as a security problem,sans any racist element. A government led by a prime minister who started his tenure by offering the historic apology to the lost generation of Australias aboriginal community cannot be expected to ignore the emergence of any racist tendency. But he needs to be more aggressive in pitching Australias true character in India.
Both governments need to devise effective mechanisms to cleanse the entire international education industry. This will include regularising shady education agents in India,purging documents and identity fraud committed by these agents,ensuring the veracity of the pre-departure information provided to students,verification of the authenticity of the institution where admission is sought and taking stern action followed by prosecution against the perpetrators of attacks. Equally,there is a need to ensure the quality of life of the students once in Australia: to minimise any health and security risks by making arrangements for decent accommodation,health cover and security arrangements at night at vulnerable places. At present there is no structured mechanism which can deliver on all these counts.
Undoubtedly,in this visit Kevin Rudds main goal should be to win heart and minds,on which the future of Indo-Australia strategic relationship will hinge.
The writer is a research fellow at Griffith Asia Institute,Nathan,Queensland,and associate investigator at the Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security
express@expressindia.com
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