‘There is less tolerance’: Wong’s veiled criticism of India under Modi

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has made a veiled criticism of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s treatment of religious minorities and the media, as the federal government announced a plan to turbocharge trade ties with the growing economic superpower.

The increasingly close relationship between Australia and India came under scrutiny late last month with the revelation that ASIO in 2020 removed a “nest” of Indian spies that tried to obtain sensitive information about Australian defence technology, airport security and trade relationships.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said she had met her Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar more times than any other foreign minister. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Speaking at the launch of the Centre for Australia-India Relations in Parramatta in western Sydney on Monday, Wong said she had noted during a November trip to India that pluralism and democracy were being challenged worldwide.

“These challenges have only become more acute,” she said, in a carefully worded but clear reference to recent developments in India.

“There is less tolerance of the very freedoms, including for media and religious practice, that are integral to open societies.

“In that context, the next generation of Indians and Australians have a special responsibility to nurture and strengthen the institutions that we hold dear.”

Senior government ministers have been notably reluctant to criticise Modi’s Hindu nationalist government as India is seen as both a crucial export market and an important strategic counterweight to China in the Indo-Pacific.

Modi is expected to easily win a third term in elections under way in India, but the campaign has focused international attention on allegations of “democratic backsliding” in the world’s largest democracy, including threats to press freedom and the treatment of minorities such as Muslims and Sikhs.

India was ranked 159th out of 180 countries in this year’s World Press Freedom Index, with Reporters Without Borders saying the country had adopted “draconian laws” and its low ranking was “unworthy of a democracy”.

Tax officials in India last year raided the BBC’s New Delhi and Mumbai offices after the broadcaster aired a documentary examining Modi’s involvement in the 2002 intercommunal riots in the state of Gujarat.

Highlighting the growing ties between Australia and India, Wong noted that she had met with her Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, more than any other foreign minister and that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had met with Modi seven times since taking office.

“Australia and India share this region and we share a future,” Wong said.

“We are working together to shape the region that we want.”

Trade Minister Don Farrell, speaking at the same event, announced the government would begin consultations on a future road map for Australian economic engagement with India, with a focus on emerging green technologies.

Noting that India had the world’s largest population and was expected to have the world’s third-largest economy by 2030, Farrell said, “we cannot talk about the future of the Australian economy without talking about India”.

“We think a new road map will help us go even further in our trade and investment relationship with India, and help us seize the opportunities of the net-zero transition,” he said.

“Of course, we will also continue to negotiate our next free trade agreement with India and push for the best possible deal for Australia ... I am confident that we will secure an agreement with India, but we will only agree to a deal that is in Australia’s national interest.”

An India-Australia economic co-operation and trade agreement came into force in 2022, but the countries are negotiating a more ambitious free trade pact that would expand export opportunities for Australian farmers and manufacturers.

The government wants to improve educational ties with India.Credit: Edwina Pickles

Wong also announced details of a plan to embed Indian scholars in Australian foreign affairs and strategic institutes, while helping promising Indian science, technology, engineering and mathematics students to study in Australia.

Based in an area of western Sydney with one of the country’s largest Indian diaspora communities, the new Centre for Australia-India Relations aims to increase collaboration across government, industry, academia and civil society.

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