Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Edited by Jonathan Pearlman, Australian Foreign Affairs, $22.99.
“A rising giant”, the future of India is the subject of Australian Foreign Affairs 13. India’s unsteady growth and unpredictable political turns raise questions about its role and power in Asia.
India Rising? examines the challenge and opportunities for Australia as it seeks to improve its faltering ties with the world’s largest democracy, a nation whose ascent – if achieved – could reshape the regional order.
Editor Jonathan Pearlman notes: when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Australia in 2014, there seemed to be a new era had arrived in which Australia and India would finally make good on the relationship, which appeared to hold so much promise. Two democracies, shared colonial heritage, bookends of the Indian Ocean – and an assurance that had remained perennially unfulfilled.
A familiar conclusion: India and Australia may never deliver on the hype; that the relationship is defined by their differences. Lead essays by Snigdha Poonam, Harsh V. Pant, Aarti Betigeri and Michael Wesley explore the big picture for Australia and India.
While obstacles remain, the relationship is changing. One key transformation is the boom in Australia’s Indian-born population. “Indian-born Australians make up three per cent of the population, a higher proportion than those born in China. Australia’s growing and diverse Indian Diaspora community should help it to boost trade and engagement with India; it should also help Australian policymakers, businesses and diplomats to overcome some of the misunderstandings that have impeded ties in the past.”
“… Yet as Asia’s power balance changes, there is a genuine opportunity to finally create a close and meaningful India-Australia partnership. To seize on this potential, Australia will finally need to understand the limitations of the relationship, and find ways to overcome them.”
