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Australia for enduring ties

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Australia backs India’s case for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council and sees the end of a period when successive governments in Canberra had not approached India “diligently enough.”

This was stated by visiting Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Stephen Smith during a lecture at the Indian Council of World Affairs here.

Mr. Smith felt that his country’s refusal to supply uranium to India should not be allowed to come in the way of the attempt to take the bilateral ties to an entirely new level.

“That period of fits and starts is over. Australia’s past approach to India has been like a 20/20 cricket match: short bursts of enthusiasm followed by lengthy periods of inactivity. We need, rather, to treat our relationship with India like a test match. We should work with diligence, dedication, application and perseverance day in and day out to extend the partnership. This approach also acknowledges India’s rise as a great power in the international community,” he said.

Growing ties with India, Mr. Smith said, would not and should not be at the expense of ties with other countries. Australia would continue to pursue closer links with China and members of the Association of South East Asian Nations as well preserve its close strategic linkages with the U.S. and Japan.

Australia also wished that India had close ties with Japan, China and the U.S. “This is not a zero sum game. The benefits from better bilateral relationships add to closer regional and multilateral relationships.”

Mr. Smith visited the National Stadium, paid homage to the memory of hockey wizard Dhyan Chand and interacted with some former Olympians. While regretting the Indian hockey team’s first-ever absence at the Beijing Olympics, in a lighter vein he offered the services of Australian experts, including Ric Charlesworth, who ran into trouble with the Indian hockey establishment.

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