Thank Professor Sanjay Chaturvedi, Professor Harsh V Pant, and Prof Gulshan Sachdeva, for their contributions to today’s lecture on India and Australia working together in the Indo-Pacific
Great to have Professor Chaturvedi at our Kolkata Dialogue last year… which explored similar issue on Island states resilience and security. Prof Chaturvedi emphasised the importance of understanding and respecting the diversity of the Indo-Pacific Island states and their different problems and I admire his call for a more holistic approach by Australia and India to actively involve island states in agenda setting.
Our conversations together at Kolkatta on the state of Indo-Pacific security has led me here, closing this lecture and discussing these critical issues with such esteemed guests.
I like to imagine the Indo-Pacific as a bridge in two of the world’s greatest oceans, a confluence of two seas. The region faces severe challenges – which is unsurprising considering it makes up two-thirds of the global economy and three-fifths of the world’s population. With 60 per cent of global maritime trade passing through its waters – geostrategic competition is fierce. No wonder, the region has been rightly dubbed the most consequential region of our time by Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
Our conversations on climate change for the most part are theoretical, experimental and fanciful, but to many islanders, it is a reality they must face every day. Forced upon them are the consequences of an overrun planet, a challenge imposed by decades of neglect. The Indo-Pacific region has experienced an average of nearly ten disasters per month since 1970s. For over half a century, islanders have been grappling with extreme weather patterns, warming oceans, rising seas and acidification. Coordinating efforts is essential to the future of small island state resilience.
In today’s geopolitical landscape, we see geopolitics and sustainability intersecting… this intersection is shaping the dynamics of regional governance and power relations. Beyond this concept lies a reality where certain actors exploit sustainability initiatives to assert dominance in the region. A case in point is China’s Belt and Road Initiative, where ostensibly sustainable projects risk entrenching smaller economies in a debt trap, increasing concerns about regional control dynamics. Further, the securitisation of climate has Pacific Island nations identifying climate change as their biggest security threat.
Yet, geopolitics over regional resources increase these vulnerabilities, highlighting the complex interplay between sustainability and power dynamics. Amidst these complexities, the fundamental question that we all should ask:
How will nations navigate these intersecting realms of geopolitics and sustainability? This question is why we are here today.
Given the vulnerability of the region, it is important to ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific. We are already aware of China’s rising power and influence in the region through its increased aid, development, diplomacy and security cooperation. But it is no secret, that China’s generous contributions towards Pacific Islands States comes with conditions. Its climate change investments in the region, are thinly veiled to promote their image as a responsible donor.
We also need to acknowledge that for long this region was neglected by other superpowers. Before visits from Modi in 2016 and the U.S. Secretary of State in 2022, it had been over two decades since an Indian leader and three decades since a U.S. leader had visited these islands. India’s shift from Look East to Act East has demonstrated India’s growing concerns and Interest in the region. Modi’s most recent visit in 2023 to PNG for the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) summit was first time the country received an Indian Prime Minister.
The summit, which hosted India, Australia and 13 other Pacific Island nations marked India’s renewed interest in the region, with Modi promising greater multilateral engagements and geostrategic ambitions. India’s growing movements in the Pacific has inspired a stronger relationship with its long-term ally, Australia. The two nations have boasted a progressive friendship over the past decade but historically their collaboration in the Pacific Islands has been relatively placid.
Australia has rightly responded to China’s growing presence in the Pacific. As the largest geographic regional power, Australia long considered itself to have a leadership role in advancing the prospects of its Pacific Island neighbours. Australia is also one of the region’s primary security partners… A major donor for the region’s COVID-19 response, providing $804 million in additional aid and over 2.5 million vaccine doses to 8 countries since the start of the pandemic.
Australia has also been at the fore of natural disaster relief efforts, most recently in response to Tonga’s devastating January 2022 volcanic eruption. But as an Australian, I also need to acknowledge that their international aid donations compared to New Zealand and the U.S. is pocket money… with an estimated $5.37 billion in aid to Pacific Island countries over the last 3 financial years. The opening of Australia’s diplomatic mission in the Maldives, the Indo-Pacific Endeavour and the elevated defence presence in New Delhi just some of the steps taken by Australia to collaborate with India.
Stability in the Indo-Pacific is challenged by recent global events (i.e. Russia and Ukraine), underscoring the fragility of supply chains and the inherent risks posed to sustainability. Australia and India emerge as proactive actors committed to addressing these challenges. The Australia–Tuvalu Falepili Union treaty exemplifies this commitment, providing a pioneering framework for climate migration, bolstering regional responses to climate change.
Similarly, India’s financial support of 700,000 USD to Tuvalu through India-UN Development Partnership Fund, underscores its dedication to enhancing resilience and sustainability in the Pacific. Utilising the diplomatic platforms like the 2+2 dialogue, India and Australia reaffirm their support for Pacific-led regional organisations. The convergence of sustainability and geopolitics heralds both opportunities and challenges for nations to navigate cooperation, resilience-building, and sustainable development.
Considering the region’s vulnerability to intensified security challenges, the Institute hosted Kolkata Dialogue last year in September in Kolkata regarded as the gateway to the North-East Indian Ocean. There were several core takeaways from the conversations hosted at the dialogue;
- Dominance by larger countries imposing challenges for island states when they surpass aid eligibility.
- Weaknesses in regional organisations, i.e. Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) compared to the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF)
- Increasing disinformation campaigns creating negative perceptions of countries like India and Australia among island states.
These challenges discussed at Kolkata hugely feed into the fight against climate change. Small island states contribute the least to climate change, they are the first to bear the consequences. As of 2023, 12 million displaced climate refugees have fled sinking islands and raging environmental disasters. Those who remain must face adapting to new livelihoods and ways of life.
Paper commissioned by the Institute, Ambika Vishwanath, founding director of Kubernein Initiative, investigated climate and human security cooperation in the Pacific Islands. The paper highlighted that greater focus must be directed on climate change initiatives in India and Australia’s bilateral endeavours. The most affected sector by climate change in the Indo-Pacific is agriculture, reliance on natural resources is stripped away when disaster strikes. Its forced villages to relocate inland – in Fiji for instance, the villages of Vunidogoloa and Narikosa have been forced to migrate, and a projected 42 more villages will need to move before 2025.
The 48th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Communiqué stressed the importance to look beyond the conventional military and security challenges that global powers in the region tend to often prioritise. In 2020, India pledged $50 million to the Commonwealth Small States Trade Finance Facility. This investment, coinciding with International Solar Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure provide vital financial backing to small island states for their resilience-building initiatives. This resonated at G20 Climate and Environment Ministers’ Meeting in Chennai September 2023… with a commitment to $4 trillion annually to climate energy
It is essential that we acknowledge the importance of achieving our net zero goals to combat climate change. However, development ambitions of both Australia and India and the reliance on fossil fuels raise concerns on achieving these targets. Renewable energy, green hydrogen, solar and critical minerals have been in the forefront of the discussions between our two countries both bilaterally and through multilateral platforms.
The Aii recently put on the Australia India Leadership Dialogue in November 2023. This Dialogue had a keen focus on addressing challenges in building sustainability in a region highly dependent on clean energy transition. Highlighted was greater Australia and India collaboration on solar, green hydrogen, and other renewable energy sources, to drive decarbonisation efforts and the importance of critical minerals calls for the need for strategic resource management and supply chain optimisation. The Global Decarbonisation Revolution is underway and presents opportunity for environmental sustainability and economic prosperity to go hand in hand.
India and Australia task force on solar energy is one such initiative. The region’s reliance on China’s export of solar panels and the regionalisation of supply chains have heightened anxieties over energy security. This has pushed Australia and India to explore ways to diversify and ensure sustainable and resilient supply chains for critical minerals including the India and Australia critical minerals investment partnership. Investments under the Task Force will seek to build new supply chains. These supply chains underpinned by critical minerals processed in Australia that will go towards helping India’s plans to lower emissions from its electricity network and become a global manufacturing hub.
Another significant collaboration in this space has been the Australia-India Green Hydrogen Taskforce which to promote bilateral cooperation on green hydrogen. Collaboration must integrate government, industry and academia collectively and collaboratively across borders if we want to develop an intersectional, holistic approach to climate change and sustainability.
Small island states in the Indo-Pacific are vulnerable but not powerless. There is a lot of low hanging fruit for Australia and India to co-ordinate their efforts.
At a time of geopolitical turbulence in the Indo-Pacific – our two nations standing together, cooperating and sharing information is more important than ever. A range of engagements have already been actioned in several regional and multilateral negotiations to achieve this. We can take a look at movements made by the Pacific Islands Forum, ASEAN, COP26 and the IORA and their contributions to building political, economic and societal resilience amongst small island states in the Indo-Pacific.
Finally, perhaps most importantly, the most critical challenge lies in framing the narrative for bureaucrats sitting in the capitals of these wealthy nations. The lived experiences of those who battle the effects of climate change every day are not reflected in a way that communicates the desperate need for improvement. Through initiatives like our Kolkata Dialogue 2023, conversations on building small island state resilience can be put into action.
Australia and India hold a unique opportunity to lead the region and world in this space, be at the forefront of the clean tech revolution and become renewable energy superpowers. Through greater collaboration, our two nations have capacity to drive decarbonisation efforts and unlock new commercial opportunities.