Want Indo-Pacific free from coercion: Australian High Commissioner to WION

Australia would like to see the Indo-Pacific region free of coercion, Australian High Commissioner to Indian Harinder Sidhu told WION on Tuesday.

She added that Australia would like to work with democracies in the region to building peace and security.

Sidhu told WION that the "idea of Indo-Pacific makes a lot of sense for Australia", adding that her country "faces the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Indian Ocean on the other side, and when we think what our region is, it's the Indo-Pacific."

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"Our interest is very much to deepen our relationship with all the countries of Indo-Pacfic," said Sidhu. "To create Indo-Pacific that is stable and that is free and free from coercion... where there is a free and open trade. It's very very important that we work with key democracies in Indo-Pacfic to build that sense of peace, prosperity and security."

China's role in the region has come under criticism, especially over how it is handling the South China Sea issue. Its ties with India were also hit after the Doklam incident in 2017. Since then, both New Delhi and Beijing have been trying to reset ties with each other and Indian PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have met 3 times in the last few months.

But India, Japan, Australia, and the US have been trying to engage under the auspices of the Quad. A Quad meet is going to take place next month.

When asked what role Australia would like to see for India in the Quad, the high commissioner said, "All the countries that are like-minded countries will deal with each other in different ways. Quad is one way. We have trilateral engagement with India and Japan. Many other combinations. Aussie-India strategic relationship is at all-time high and there is a high level of trust and confidence and it iwill only get better."

India-Australia ties: Genuine warmth
Calling India-Australia ties as a "very, very strong relationship", Sidhu said there were "more Indian students going to Australia and more tourism happening in both directions" and there is "genuine warmth and friendship between our people".
Approximately, two per cent of Australia's population is of Indian origin.

The Australian government recently released a paper — Indian economic strategy 2035 — to expand economic relationships with India over the next 20 years. The paper covers all sectors of the economy and looks at how to engage with Individual Indian states to deepen economic ties.

The Khalistan issue was broached too.

Sidhu said we are "aware of the issue and something that we will look in Australia . We are a country where people come from different background. They all have views on the country of the origin and as long as they can express the views peacefully and within the law, they are entitled... we are a free country."