Transcript E&OE
13 October 2009, New Delhi
Interview with CNN-IBN Cable news channel
Subjects: Australia-India relationship; Indian students in Australia.
Journalist: Mr Smith your discussions in India with your counter-part. What came up?
Stephen Smith: We traversed an array of interests between Australia and India-bilateral, regional and international. So we covered the field as we should with what we describe as the Framework Foreign Ministers Dialogue.
It is very important to Australia because we want to take India to the front rank of our bilateral relationships. We see our relationship with India as very important, so being able to have these frank conversations across the board is a very good thing and they were very productive conversations.
Journalist: So did you touch on the defence aspect, on issues like perhaps uranium supplies?
Stephen Smith: We touched on all of the aspects of our bilateral relationship. We touched upon our desire to cooperating in security area. We have good cooperation at the moment. But both in terms of counter-terrorism and defence we believe there is more than we can do. So we spoke in terms of the possibility of having a security framework agreement. We have in the past of course spoken generally about taking the status of our relationship to a strategic partnership and that is something that we also pursued.
We spoke about energy issues, the complimentarity between Australia as a reliable supplier of energy and of course we spoke about uranium in passing, but our positions or our views on that are well known and of long standing.
Journalist: But it is a little illogical, is it not? You have supported us at the NSG and yet there is a refusal to supply uranium?
Stephen Smith: We supported India very strongly in the Nuclear Suppliers' Group, and also in the IAEA. We are also of the view that our support helped form consensus in the favour of the Nuclear Civil Agreement between India and the United States. We thought that was important because it essentially brings India more into the international oversight of its civil nuclear industry. That is a good thing and India accepts and acknowledges that. We are also very welcoming of the fact that at the time of that agreement, India made it clear that it was not proposing to continue with nuclear testing.
But we have had a long standing principal position which is not aimed at India, it is the long standing position that we do not export uranium to a country that is not a party to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. We also acknowledge and understand India's long standing position that it is not proposing to join the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
So, whilst we understand that India would prefer that we adopt that different position, our respective positions are known and respected. But also I think it's true to say that, it was probably more important to India that we helped join and form the consensus in the NSG than from whom it sources its uranium. Because currently of course it is not a difficulty for India in terms of a source or sources of uranium supply.
Journalist: The impression that one gets here in India is that China is trusted and India is not.
Stephen Smith: That is not a judgment or an assessment that Australian Government or the Australian nation likes. We have a long standing economic relationship with China. It is also true to say that in recent times our relationship with China has not been free from difficulty. There are clear differences between the Australian system and the Chinese system. In recent times we have seen differences emerge as a result of different approaches to issues, different systems and values.
On the other hand, so far as our relationship with India is concerned, whilst everyone sees the rise of China, not enough people or nations see the rise of India. Australia has been very forthright in arguing that India is also on the rise, which India also is and will take its place as a significant global player.
India of course has many attributes that are familiar to Australia. We are both robust parliamentary democracies, we are both respecters of the law of contract, and we are both respecters of human rights. There is a lot of like-mindedness about Australia and India and one of the reasons why the world is moving to the Asia Pacific is the rise of India, it is not just the rise of China.
We have relationships both with China and India. They are different relationship necessarily, but both are important and the emergence of China into the international community and the emergence of India as a global player will be, in my view, two of the great features of the first half of this century.
Journalist: Minister getting back to the whole issue of Indian students there, we find that violence keeps continuing…just what is going on because the sense is that every time there is an assurance…and then things are back to square one.
Stephen Smith: I am not sure that is right. There have been some terrible incidents. The truth is that we have nearly half a million overseas students in Australia. Generally those students live as the rest of the Australians live in peace and harmony. In the case of some Indian students we have had some terrible incidents. We condemn them absolutely. Together with relevant State authorities we have taken steps to minimize the chances of that happening again.
Whilst there have been some terrible incidents, I will not regard this as an ongoing feature of Australian society. Australia is a country that is made up of vibrancy, a country of 22 million people. We have taken migrants from all continents, 200 countries and we are a tolerant and peace loving people. When we see these terrible incidents occur, they are condemned not just by the Australian Government but by the Australian community.
We continue to want students, Indian students and students from other countries, to come to Australia to share a quality educational experience because we regard that as being a good thing for them but also a good thing for Australia.
Journalist: Are these random acts of violence or is there something else to it? Perhaps problems within Australian society, perhaps an economic downturn of some kind?
Stephen Smith: On the contrary, we are one of the very few countries which continues to see positive economic growth through a global financial economic downturn.
From time to time in any society, terrible incidents like these will occur. They should not be overstated. They should not be in any way regarded as being something that is exclusive to any particular country, whether that is India or Australia. What is the case is that fair minded, tolerant decent people whether they are citizens of Australia or citizens of India when they see terrible things like that occur, they condemn them and then sit down and work out what the things that we can do to minimize the chances of them occurring again.
Journalist: Minister, looking at Australia…in terms of where it belongs and the ties that it is building regionally. Which direction is Australia moving...is it moving closer towards East Asia, is it a part of the western world, I mean where is Australia moving?
Stephen Smith: I think the world is moving to the Asia Pacific. I think the world is moving to Australia's backyard. Australia is a prosperous, well developed country, and we are nestled in the Asia Pacific. We are a tolerant diverse society, we are made up of people from all corners of the world and the world is moving in our direction.
We are an active player and the leader in the Pacific, we are an active participant in Asia, our priorities are necessarily regional including South Asia but our interests because of the modern world are also necessarily global.
That is why we play an active part throughout the array of international institutions. That is why we are a robust member of the G20 that is why we are a robust member United Nations General Assembly. That is why we want to be a temporary member of the Security Council.
And is why we are active in a range of regional organizations because we think they are relevant to our interest. We are very pleased for example that next year, for the first time, we will engage in a dialogue with SAARC, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, which is a very good thing and reflects the fact that our interests are regional and international.
Journalist: When you discuss defence and strategic issues with India, in specific terms what is it that you are looking at?
Stephen Smith: If you look at our part of the world, if you look at the Indian Ocean, the Asia Pacific, there are a number of things that have seen peace and security and stability throughout the Asia Pacific in the Post- World War II years. One has been the active and ongoing engagement of the United States and we certainly want to see that continue.
As India emerges as the global player, then India's activities will also be important. That is why for example today I suggested to the External Affairs Minister Krishna, that Australia should take part in the naval exercises which currently occur between the United States and India.
And why I invited India, through the External Affairs Minister Krishna, to take part in some of the multilateral military exercises that Australia has. Kakadu is one of the exercises, for example, that we conduct. This is not only a sensible regional thing to do but it is also a confidence building measure.
This is why recently the United Stated suggested that may be China, United States and Australia could contemplate some defence or military exercises. These are sensible confidence building measure to engage in.
Journalist: Is there now an FDA being worked out between the two countries?
Stephen Smith: There is a feasibility study, there is a study being undertaken by officials. We hope that when the study is concluded we will all see the launch of the start of the Free Trade Agreement negotiations between Australia and India.
The economic engagement between Australia and India is now starting to grow quite significantly. India is for example now Australia's fifth largest export market and on current predictions will become our third largest export market in a very short space of time.
There is a lot of economic complimentarity between our two countries, energy and energy resources, education. In education terms, it's not just the Indian students coming to Australia, it's a collaboration between our universities and between our research institutes. There are a whole lot of services that we believe we can engage: infrastructure; renewable energy; and the like. A Free Trade Agreement would maximize the prospects of benefits both to Australia and to India. So we are very keen to progress to that.
Journalist: Sir, getting back to uranium, did this come up during your talks?
Stephen Smith: It came up in passing, but as I say Australia's position and India's position on this matter, whether it is uranium or Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, are both positions of principals adopted by Australia and India over a long period of time.
Positions are well understood, acknowledged and respected, and we do not let these sort of issues get in the way of what we see as being a relationship which is very friendly, very strong, and a relationship which both Australia and India believe can be taken to much greater and higher levels.
We do see India coming to the front rank of our bilateral relationships in the course of the first half of this century. And which I think not just says enough about the relationship between Australia and India, but it says a lot about the way in which India, a country of a billion people, a robust parliamentary democracy, is now emerging as a leading global player, a nation of weight, that is about to take and play it's significant role in international affairs.
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