A NEW STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP: PM RUDD VISITS NEW

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 002386

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL AS IN
SUBJECT: A NEW STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP: PM RUDD VISITS NEW
DELHI

1.(U) SUMMARY: India and Australia elevated their
relationship to a "strategic partnership" during Australian
PM Rudd's November 12 visit to New Delhi. After a day full
of high level meetings and events, the leaders released a
Joint Statement that announced the new strategic partnership,
and an India-Australia Joint Declaration on Security
Cooperation that committed the two sides to strengthening
cooperation on counter-terrorism, defense, disarmament and
non-proliferation and maritime security. Australian
diplomats say that while the hot topics of violence against
Indian students abroad in Australia and Uranium sales were
emphasized in some media outlets, they did not play heavily
in the official meetings. END SUMMARY.

Meetings
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2.(U) On his first visit to India since assuming office,
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd arrived November 12 in
India from Afghanistan, where he had visited Australian
troops. He spent one busy day in New Delhi before departing
en route to the APEC meeting in Singapore. Rudd's planned
stop in Mumbai for a high profile cricket match was sidelined
by a cyclone, but his Delhi meeting schedule remained packed.
Rudd breakfasted with Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh,
gave a speech at a business luncheon hosted by the three
major business organizations in New Delhi; spoke on "The
Evolution of Asia" at the Indian Council on World Affairs;
and met with The Energy and Resources Institute's (TERI) Dr.
R K Pechauri, President Patil, Vice President Ansari, Sonia
Gandhi, Trade Minister Anand Sharma, and Prime Minister
Singh. Australian DCM Lachlan Strahan characterized the
interaction between Rudd and Singh as engaging and pithy.
Trade Minister Sharma, Minister of Education Kapil Sibal, NSA
Narayanan, and Special Envoy for Climate Change Shyam Saran
joined in the meeting. The issue of violence against Indian
students studying in Australia has plagued the relationship
this year and partly overshadowed Rudd's visit; some Indian
media outlets focused on that and on Australia's denial of
uranium sales to India because it is not an NPT signatory,
but Strahan told us that neither issue was raised in the
Rudd-Singh meeting.

Deliverables
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3.(U) India and Australia elevated their relationship to a
"strategic partnership" during the visit. DCM Strahan told
us that it was a significant accomplishment, as "India gives
these out sparingly." It required a lot of negotiation and
represented the fulfillment of one of the Rudd
administration's top priorities. Australia sees India as one
of its top 5-6 partners in the world, and wants a "more
consistent" relationship. Singh agreed, and called Australia
a "key" partner during his meeting with Rudd, Strahan told
us.

4.(U) The India-Australia Joint Declaration on Security
Cooperation committed to strengthening bilateral cooperation
on counter-terrorism, defense, disarmament and
non-proliferation, and maritime security. It identified
elements of cooperation including information exchange and
policy coordination on regional affairs, bilateral
cooperation in Asian multilateral frameworks, a continued
Defense Dialogue, cooperation on combating terrorism and
trans-national organized crime, disaster management, maritime
and aviation security, and law enforcement. The declaration
committed to working towards an action plan on security
cooperation. It emphasized Australia's support for Indian
membership in APEC and for an Indian permanent seat on the
United Nations Security Council.

5.(U) DCM Strahan said the Declaration "encapsulates a
natural increase in cooperation and is not directed at
anybody" (NOTE: he was most likely referring to China). On
the defense relationship, he said it is not yet about defense

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equipment, but about person-to-person interaction; the two
countries cooperate on a wide variety of exercises and
trainings. He noted, however, that India keeps sending the
message that "Malabar," the annual, Indian-led, joint naval
exercise with the U.S. is still a bilateral exercise, despite
the fact that Japan participated last year and others want to
open it up.

6.(U) The Joint Statement contained bland language agreeing
to "expedite" a feasibility study on a bilateral Free Trade
Agreement. There has been a joint study group on the FTA
since August 2007. DCM Strahan thought PM Singh could move
the FTA when he decided to, and expected it would be wrapped
up soon. Other deliverables included a "young political
leaders program" to reinvigorate parliamentary exchange. A
new CEO forum will meet annually and pass thoughts and
recommendations to the PMs and Trade Ministers, and a
ministerial-level dialogue on education was established. An
MoU on water management was inked as a framework for future
cooperation, as Australia and India have similar federal
systems for state water sharing. A bilateral science fund
expansion will address energy, food security, health and
environmental issues. PM Singh announced that he would visit
Australia in the near future. PM Rudd announced the
expansion of Australia's diplomatic presence in India by 14
new diplomats, but the Indian side only agreed formally to
one of the new positions. (NOTE: full texts of the Joint
Statement and other visit-related documents are available at
http://www.meaindia.nic.in).

7.(U) COMMENT: Some in India, particularly in the media,
have characterized the India-Australia relationship as a
being in a downward spiral under the Rudd administration.
Rudd's perceived closeness to China (he speaks fluent
Mandarin),his government's decision not to sell uranium to
India, and the spate of violence against Indian students have
all hampered progress on strategic cooperation. Yet,
Australia's intent focus on regional multilateral cooperation
with India fits well with India's "Look East" policy and
gives India an opportunity to leverage Australia's support to
reach some of its targets for greater integration into South
East Asia. Despite the issues in this relationship, a
strategic partnership and security cooperation between India
and Australia seem like the obvious next step. This is most
evident when considering how strategically close both
countries are to others in the region, including Japan, with
which each already has a strategic partnership. India has
shown it is serious about strengthening its strategic
cooperation with Australia. This new strategic partnership
may be an opportunity for us to press India on increasing the
scope of our multilateral regional security cooperation, for
example by renewing discussion of Australia's participation
in the annual Malabar exercises. END COMMENT.

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