This week in Australian foreign affairs: Albanese travels to India, Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, Wong meets with her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang, inaugural Ambassador for First Nations People, and more.

Albanese addressed the Australian Financial Review Business Summit on 7 March, where he acknowledged his upcoming trip to India. He noted that on his trip he would be joined by “25 CEOs and business leaders – in transport, resources, finance, higher education, architecture and energy – one of the biggest and most significant Australian business delegations to ever visit any of our trading partners.” He discussed the “rich history” between the two nations, “bound by our democratic values and enlivened by genuine friendship and fierce sporting rivalry.” Albanese noted that despite this, “in 2021-22, India was only Australia’s sixth largest goods and services trading partner” and that “we can elevate [this] – and not just by volume.” He stated that the Government “is seeking to deepen and diversify Australia’s trade links [in terms of] greater diversity in who we trade with – and greater variety in what we trade.”

On 8 March, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese travelled to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the first visit by an Australian Prime Minister to India since 2017. He will visit Ahmedabad, Mumbai and New Delhi, to “further deepen [the] strategic, economic and people to people ties with India.” The leaders will first attend the Australia-India Annual Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi, to discuss “trade and investment, renewable energy, technology, defence and security cooperation” and to highlight the two nations’ “strong educational and cultural ties.” Albanese will be accompanied by Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell and Minister for Resources Madeleine King, who will lead a delegation of“senior Australian business leaders”. The business delegation will then participate in the Australia-India CEO Forum in Mumbai, to discuss “trade and investment opportunities opened up by the recent Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement and future areas of business to business collaboration with their Indian counterparts.” Albanese will then join Modi at the Fourth Test Match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Ahmedabad. He noted that “[a]s we look to the future, India will continue to be an important partner and close friend to Australia” and that he“looks forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi in Australia mid-year for the Quad Leaders’ Summit and to visiting India again in September for the G20 Leaders’ Summit.”

While in India, Albanese celebrated Holi at Raj Bhawan on 8 March, where he discussed the Indian-born diaspora in Australia of “nearly 800,000 people” and stated that “whatever the future holds, I know that Australia’s Indian-origin community is and will continue to be a crucial partner in the task of making our nation greater still.” Albanese referred to the contributions of the Indian-born diaspora as “liv[ing] out the message of Holi: making connections, building communities and enriching lives” and that “these human ties bind Australia and India – and must always be at the heart of our relationship.” He concluded by noting that “when the gulal we scatter today has drifted away, the ties between us – hearts and minds; family and friendship – will endure and flourish.”

On 8 March, Albanese acknowledged that “Deakin University will be the first overseas university approved to establish a branch campus in India” and that this is “a great honour for Deakin University – and for Australia, too.” He noted that Australia “always welcome[s] students to come and study in Australia, and that will … continue to be an important focus for us … [b]ut not everyone has the means or ability to pack up their lives and study in another country.” Albanese stated that “the presence of Australian universities in India opens up new ways for Indian students to obtain an Australianeducation by bringing Australia a little bit closer.” He also announced that the Government has finalised the Australia-India Education Qualifications Recognition Mechanism, meaning that Indian students studying in Australia will have their “hard-earned degree … recognised when [they] return home.” He noted that this is “the most comprehensive and ambitious arrangement agreed to by India with any country” and “paves the way for commercial opportunities for Australian education providers to offer innovative and more accessible education to Indian students.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong issued a joint statement on 3 March along with her Quad counterparts following their Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting that day in New Delhi. The Secretary and Ministers noted that their meeting had “reaffirm[ed] the Quad’s steadfast commitment to supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific, which is inclusive and resilient” and that they “strongly support the principles of freedom, rule of law, sovereignty and territorial integrity, peaceful settlement of disputes without resorting to threat or use of force and freedom of navigation and overflight, and oppose any unilateral attempt to change the status quo,  all of which are essential to the peace, stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.” They discussed the importance of ASEAN centrality and unity, their commitment to supporting Pacific Island countries “in line with the objectives of the Pacific Islands Forum’s 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent”, and the progress made under the Quad Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Partnership. They also reaffirmed that “the rules-based order is anchored in international law, including the UN Charter, and the principles of sovereignty, political independence, and territorial integrity of all states” and “reiterate[d] the importance of adherence to international law, as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the SEA (UNCLOS), to meet challenges to the maritime rules-based order, including in the South and East China Seas.” The Secretary and Ministers “express[ed] their deep concern at the deterioratingsituation in Myanmar” and “condemn[ed] North Korea’s destabilising ballistic missile launches”, as well as continued discussions on their countries’ respective “responses to the conflict in Ukraine and the immense human suffering it is causing, and concurred that the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible.”

At the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi, India, Wong met with China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Qin Gang. She described the meeting as “constructive” and involved discussions about “the importance of international institutions, rules and norms which underpin the sovereignty, security and prosperity of the region.” Wong noted that she “again set out our position on issues of importance to Australians, including consular matters, trade impediments and human rights” and that she expressed “that Australia welcomed high-quality investment from all countries and applied the same risk-based approach, in accordance with Australia’s interests.” She also “reiterated Australia’s view that China should use its unique position to press Russia to end its illegal invasion of Ukraine.”

On 7 March, Wong, alongside Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney and Special Envoy for Reconciliation and Implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart Patrick Dodson, announced the appointment of Justin Mohamed, a Gooreng Gooreng man from Bundaberg, Queensland, as Australia’s inaugural Ambassador for First Nations People. Mohamed will lead the Office of First Nations Engagement in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and will work “in genuine partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to progress Indigenous rights globally, and help grow First Nations trade and investment.” Wong, Burney and Dodson further noted that “elevating the perspectives of First Nations people – this land’s first diplomats – enables deeper engagement with many of our closest partners including the Pacific family” and that “this new position ensures, for the first time, that Australia will have dedicated Indigenous representation in our international engagement.” Mohamed is currently Deputy Secretary of Aboriginal Justice in the Victorian Government and was previously Chief Executive Officer for Reconciliation Australia, Chairperson of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation. He has also “represented Indigenous organisations internationally, including at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.”

Wong and Minister for Environment Tanya Plibersek issued a joint statement on 6 March about the High Seas Treaty, an “Australian-backed global treaty to conserve the world’s high seas and ensure they are used sustainably [which] has been agreed to at the United Nations.” Wong and Plibersek stated that the Treaty “builds on the Government’s work at the Montreal Biodiversity COP where Australia led negotiations for a high-ambition Global Biodiversity Framework – protecting 30 per cent of the oceans by 2030.” They also noted that “as a member of the High Ambition Coalition, Australia like many other countries, including Pacific Island countries, sought and achieved a highly ambitious treaty.”Wong referred to the Treaty as “a remarkable milestone to protect the world’s oceans” and as being “particularly significant for the Blue Pacific Continent – the basis of livelihoods and food security for many in the Pacific family.”

On 3 March 2023, Wong, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, Minister for International Development Pat Conroy, and Minister for Emergency Management Murray Watt announced that the Australian Government “will deploy a rapid assessment team to survey cyclone damage at the request of Vanuatu.” The team “includes officers from federal, state and territory partners with a range of disaster, health, infrastructure, power and humanitarian assessment capabilities” and the initial package of assistance “includes shelters, water purification supplies and other essential items for impacted communities.” Wong noted that “we are committed to working with the [Government] and people of Vanuatu to support the recovery.” The Ministers also issued a joint media release on 5 March about the deployment of HMAS Canberra following a request from the Government of Vanuatu, which “will sail from its homeport of Sydney to Vanuatu to provide support to the country following Tropical Cyclones Judy and Kevin” with 600 ADF personnel onboard, and will bring “a versatile set of capabilities to support the Whole-of-Government response to the cyclones, led by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.” The deployment of HMAS Canberra follows the two Royal Australian Air Force aircraft which delivered the earlier support. Wong noted that “our close partnership with Vanuatu means we have been able to mobilise assistance quickly and contribute to the Government of Vanuatu’s immediate requests following Tropical Cyclones Judy and Kevin” and that “with HMAS Canberra we are providing more humanitarian supplies and much needed logistical support. This shows our continued commitment to the Pacific family.”

Isabella Keith is a weekly columnist for Australian Outlook. She is also a Research Assistant, Sessional Academic, and Honours student in Law at the Australian National University, with a focus on international law. Isabella attended the AIIA #NextGen study tour to South Korea last year, and was also a delegate to the AIIA’s Australia-Korea-New Zealand and Australia-United States-Japan Policy Forums. She can be found on Twitter here.

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