Recalibrating the future of India-Australia relations

Five years ago, India and Australia elevated their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP), a diplomatic milestone that reflected not only a convergence of values and strategic interests but also a shared vision for a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific.

- Amitabh Mattoo

The June 4 visit to New Delhi by Australia's deputy prime minister and defence minister Richard Marles to mark the anniversary of the CSP is not merely an occasion for ceremonial stocktaking; it is a pivotal moment that calls for a bold, forward-looking recalibration. India and Australia must now move beyond incremental progress and embrace a transformational vision for their partnership in the Indo-Pacific.

CSP has already delivered substantive gains: robust defence cooperation, deepening economic ties, burgeoning technology linkages, and vibrant people-to-people engagement. And yet, the Indo-Pacific today is more volatile and contested than it was in 2020. Great power rivalries have sharpened, regional fault lines have widened, and internal complexities in both countries demand strategic clarity. To build on, and surpass, the achievements of the last five years in the next five, we must dismantle structural impediments, correct asymmetries, and advance a series of focused, high-impact initiatives that re-imagine the bilateral canvas.

First, the economic pillar of CSP needs to evolve beyond tariff liberalisation and traditional trade. While the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement was a historic breakthrough, it must now serve as a stepping stone to a much more ambitious Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA). A forward-leaning CECA must encompass services trade, facilitation of investment, regulatory harmonisation, digital governance, and intellectual property frameworks.