Doorstop with Australian Journalists
Topics: Australia-India relationship, Afghanistan, AFP investigation
Transcript, proof E&OE
4 March 2010
Question: How do you rate the success of your visit this time around?
Minister: Well I had three objectives when I came on this occasion. First was to advance the Strategic Partnership between Australia and India, which the two Prime Ministers signed in November of last year when Prime Minister Rudd visited.
Second was to have discussions about security arrangements for the Commonwealth Games and other high profile sporting events that Australians will participate in — the IPL, and of course the Hockey World Cup, which is on.
But thirdly, to speak directly to Ministers, officials, the Indian public and media about the steps we have taken on the Indian students issue and I think we have made progress on all fronts. I am very pleased with my discussions with my counterpart and other Ministers, and so far as the Commonwealth Games and other security arrangements are concerned, I am very pleased with the cooperation and coordination there. We are very pleased with arrangements on the ground for the Hockey World Cup.
So far as the Indian students issue is concerned, I think there is a much better appreciation following my Ministerial statement and our handing over an aide memoir to the Indian Government on all the steps that Australian Governments — Commonwealth, State and Territory — had taken.
There is a much better appreciation of the efforts we have taken, and also a much better appreciation of the fact that these attacks do not reflect the modern Australia. We find violence and attacks on people contemptible, and we have absolutely zero tolerance for any attacks which have racial or racist overtones.
So I think we have made some progress. I think the raw edge has gone off but we have to continue to be vigilant about this matter, which of course we will do.
Question: (inaudible)… on this trip?
Minister: I think two things: firstly, my meetings have been very productive on the broader relationship between Australia and India. Often when faced with a difficult issue, we lost sight of the fundamental basis of a relationship, and how a relationship is progressing, and over the last couple of years we have seen a higher level of engagement between Australia and India.
Yes, I have visited India three times, but we have seen, I think, 11 Australian Ministerial visits to India, but importantly we have seen the same number of Indian Ministers visiting Australia and we have got more in the pipeline. And it is not just the Foreign Minister or the Trade Minister or the Prime Minister, it is the — portfolio Ministers — Minerals and Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Education. That shows the depth and the breadth of the relationship.
Economically, India is our fourth largest export market, on track to be our third largest, and in the last 12 months there has been an increase in two way trade of over 50 per cent.
So the fact that we signed up last year to a Strategic Partnership reflects the growth in that relationship. (inaudible), but the discussions I have had with a range of Ministers on this trip shows, in my view, a very clear understanding of the importance of this relationship, how we have advanced the relationship and how the strategic partnership can advance, including the Joint Declaration on Security that is in our mutual interests.
So that has been, from my perspective, very successful. But I do think, as I put it, I think the raw edge has come off the students issue, but we cannot in any way be complacent. So when I return to Australia I will have a conversation with Premier Brumby about the trip, and we will renew our efforts to make sure that the risks of attacks on Indian students are absolutely minimised.
Question: What about the reputational damage that you talked about, the image that Australia has in the Indian community here in Delhi and so forth? What can the Government do to try and restore that, or improve that?
Minister: I have made it quite clear, both in Australia and here, that I think there has been considerable damage to our standing and reputation and we need to firstly understand that and acknowledge it, and secondly take steps to repair it. And we will do that using all of the usual public diplomacy elements available to us.
I think my visit here and the frank acknowledgement of the difficulties has helped, also turning the Australia-India hockey game into a friendship game, recognising another link between the two countries, recognising two great hockey players, Ajit Pal and Ric Charlesworth. That was very well received by the Indian authorities and the Indian people.
So we need to do all of the usual public diplomacy to rebuild that reputation.
One of the points I have been making, and I hope with some success, is that while there has been incredible concern in India about these matters, there has of course been considerable concern in Australia about these matters.
We do not regard this as being the correct reflection of the modern Australia.
We share a national day, the 26th of January, and on Australia Day the 26th of January this year, we had 16,000 people become Australian citizens from over 140 countries, and that reflects our post-World War II migration program.
So one of the things we will be doing will be bringing to India successful Indian Australians who can say to the Indian people and public directly that this belies their own experience, this belies successful lives, successful careers, successful contributions in Australia of the Indian community. And the Indian diaspora is now between 400,000 and half a million. It's a significant part of the Australian community.
Question: Do you think that the Australian Government took too long to acknowledge there was a problem and that was part of the issue with the Indian Government and Indian people?
Minister: I think there are a number of factors. One factor was that too many people jumped to too many conclusions about what had occurred when the sensible thing to do was to just stop and wait for the formal investigative processes to take their course. I think there is a much better appreciation of that now.
A lot of people have said a lot of things about this issue, and I have not engaged in a running commentary, and I frankly do not think it helps to be either critical of Australian or Indian media or critical of people who have done or said things.
I think it is important just to calmly accept we had a serious issue, we had to deal with that, we have been dealing with that conscientiously with the Indian Government and Indian officials.
I think there has always been an understanding among the Indian Government and Indian officials that this is a difficult issue that we needed to manage. But we also know, as a result of the adverse publicity, that it has caused our reputation and standing considerable damage in the Indian community, amongst the Indian people, and we need to acknowledge that and repair it.
That will take some time, but the strength of the relationship, the strength of the people to people exchanges, the strength of the shared interest in moving forward in the future will overcome that difficulty.
Question: On the security issue, I know that you had a briefing from Minister Chidambaram yesterday or last night, if you could outline the update from him, but also I would like to ask in the last 24 hours we have heard that the attack in Kabul was that attack that possibly was targeted directly at Indians. Does this heighten Australian concerns ahead of the Commonwealth Games given that India is now being targeted by several different factions of militants?
Minister: On security matters generally in India we have known for some time, and our travel advisory reflects this, there is a risk of terrorist attacks in India.
Our travel advisory makes that clear and has made that clear for some time, and we have seen some terrible attacks in India, in Pune recently for example.
And so India understands, as Australia does, that we have both been on the receiving end of terrible terrorist attacks in our region. So the environment into which, for example, the Commonwealth Games falls, is an environment where we know there is a risk of terrorist attack, and a risk of terrorists deliberately targeting a high profile international sporting event. That is why the Indian Government is being vigilant and diligent and that is why we are cooperating so closely with them, as other Commonwealth countries are.
Now in terms of particular incidents, I do not make a running commentary on particular incidents or particular threats. If incidents or threats cause us to change our travel advisory, then that is there for all to see. Of course I had a conversation with the Home Affairs Minister, with Minister Chidambaram, yesterday. I also had a conversation with the National Security Advisor Menon and we spoke about terrorist attacks and risks both in India and also in Afghanistan. In recent times there have been a couple of terrible attacks on Indian assets in Afghanistan, recently in guesthouses and some months ago upon their embassy.
I am not proposing at this stage to draw any public conclusions from those attacks, other than that we know in Afghanistan we have a serious international terrorist threat. We are doing what we can to reduce Afghanistan, and the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, from being a hotbed of international terrorism, and that is a difficult and arduous task.
India is playing its part in that effort through a substantial development assistance program. The fact that India is playing a substantial role of capacity building and assistance in Afghanistan may be one reason why extremists or terrorists might want to target their assets in Afghanistan.
Yes of course I had conversations with National Security Advisor Menon and the Home Affairs Minister about these matters, but I would not be proposing to make public any preliminary analyses as to who or what may be behind it, other than it is pretty clear that who or what is behind it are extremists or terrorists who want to do India damage.
Question: Can you tell me if any progress has been made on talks with NATO or with the Dutch about who takes over command in Oruzgan Province?
Minister: Well I spoke recently to my counterpart, the Dutch Foreign Minister Verhagen. He made it clear as a result of the collapse of the Government that the Dutch would not lead in Oruzgan Province from August, and that much more likely than not there would not be a Dutch military presence in Oruzgan from the end of the year.
We are all proceeding now on the basis that we need to find a NATO partner to lead in Oruzgan Province, that's the matter that we have had discussions with NATO and ISAF countries about, including the United States, and in the first instance it is a matter for NATO to determine who will lead in Oruzgan Province. We have made it clear from day one that we are not in a position to lead in Oruzgan Province although we have 1550 contribution. We will continue there to do the task that we outlined in April of last year when we increased from 1100 to 1550.
Question: Why are you not in a position to take over?
Answer: Because we have commitments in East Timor, in the Solomon Islands, we have commitments and contributions in other peacekeeping United Nations sponsored operations, and we want to ensure that we have got the capacity to respond in our region.
To take the lead in Oruzgan Province requires a further substantial commitment and we are not in a position to do that. We continue to be in the top 10 military contributors, we continue to be the largest non-NATO contributor, and as a result of the London Conference we are also now making a further contribution on the diplomatic and civilian capacity building and development systems front.
So we are in the top 10 contributors, and we are doing that because we strongly believe it is in our national interest to stare down international terrorism in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area. But we believe that our contribution is appropriate and we are not in a position to extend our contribution by taking up the leadership in Oruzgan Province.
Question: Has anyone in the Indian Government that you have spoken to raised the issue of uranium exports from Australia?
Minister: I think one Minister raised it with me, and we had what I would describe as the usual conversation between an Australian and an Indian Minister on Uranium exports and the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
Question: On another topic, Fairfax papers in the last couple of days have reported on Australian links to a major kidney transplant racket here in India. Do you think it's time to regulate Australian citizens going to relatively poor countries to get organ transplants?
Minister: Australian citizens are free to travel on an Australian passport to countries that they choose, consistent with the regulations and requirements of those countries. We give advice to people about the risks associated with travel, but Australians make their own decision about where they travel.
Australians who travel, should of course do two things — they should conduct themselves appropriately and in accordance with the domestic law of the country they are in and consistently with Australia's domestic law as it applies internationally.
Question: On another topic, there has been an incident in Israel where there are reports that a car carrying AFP officers in Israel hit a cyclist then kept driving.
Do you think that was appropriate behaviour for Australia…?
Minister: Well first I have asked for a report on that matter. I did not observe the alleged accident so I am not going to come to any conclusions. But I have asked for a report on that and I will wait till that comes in. Consistent with the sensible approach that one should not respond to media reports about accidents or incidents, one should proceed firmly on the basis of what the facts are. It may take some time to establish that.
Question: Speaking of Israel, what progress has been made by the AFP officers that have gone over to Dubai to investigate the Australian passports?
Minister: The AFP are conducting an investigation. As you know, there is an AFP team in Israel as we speak together with the passport officer, to pursue their inquiry. I have made it clear I am not proposing to engage in a running commentary on that till the Australian Federal Police have concluded their investigation and reported to the Government.
ENDS
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