New Delhi
4 July 2007
New Delhi will review security cooperation with Canberra when
Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson visits India next week. His visit will be
followed by that of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in August.
Nelson will embark on a three-nation tour of Indonesia, China and India this week after
unveiling Canberra's strategy for dealing with terrorism, proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction and the "arc of instability" in Australia's neighbourhood.
The Australian minister's visit will take place after the detention of two Indian doctors
over the failed United Kingdom terror plot. Mohammad Asif Ali has since been released
but Mohammed Haneef's detention has been extended.
Sources told this newspaper that Mr Brendan Nelson will arrive in New Delhi on the
evening of July 10. He will holding talks with a cross-section of the Indian leaders on the
following day and leave from Chennai on July 12.
India and Australia signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in defence
during the visit by Australian Prime Minister John Howard last year. It covers maritime
cooperation to check terrorist threat in Malacca Straits.
It also provides for cooperation in military training, defence industries and defence
research and development. India has also agreed to set up a joint working group on
defence with Australia.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently said that the nascent India-US-Japan-Australia
quadrilateral initiative was not targeted at any country. Nelson also is expected to do
just that: Reassure China that the grouping is not directed at containing it.
The officials of the four countries met on May 24 and 25 in Manila, the Philippines, on
the sidelines of an ASEAN Regional Forum meeting. China issued a demarche to the four
countries ahead of the meeting.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang has said that "China believes that to
enhance mutual trust, expand cooperation for mutual benefit and win-win, be open and
inclusive is the global trend".
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who will visit India in AUgust, is keen on nurturing
ties with India to balance Japan's frequent tensions with China. Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh visited Japan in December last year.
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