India, Australia and Japan discuss OBOR concerns

Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 13

The fourth round of the India-Japan-Australia trilateral consultations on regional issues was held on Wednesday.

Foreign Secretary Dr S Jaishankar hosted his Australian counterpart Frances Adamson and Vice Foreign Minister of Japan Shinsuke J Sugiyama in Delhi.

The “growing convergence” of the three countries in the Indo-Pacific was central to discussions.

The official Indian release said the three sides “underscored their shared commitment to peace, democracy, economic growth and a rules-based order in the region. They underscored their support for ASEAN centrality in the political and security architecture of the Indo-Pacific region.”

Interestingly the talks were held close on the heels of the Russia-India-China meet at the level of foreign ministers and the India-Australia inaugural ‘2+2’ talks with defence and foreign secretaries over the past two days.

China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative figured prominently in the talks and the working lunch lasting nearly three and a half hours.

India expressed its “acute sovereignty concerns” given the China-Pak economic corridor as its flagship project. While Australia too raised concerns of debt traps and lack of transparency surrounding the project.

Later, interacting with select media Frances Adamson said, “Each of us has a very strong commitment to transparency around these projects, including financing arrangements, environmental standards and labour standards.”

According to an official source, Australia reiterated its interest to join the annual Malabar naval exercise with India, the US and Japan in the Bay of Bengal.

With the four countries are already a part of revived quadrilateral security dialogue, Canberra’s request could eventually be cleared but will be a time taking process.

“These are four democracies with deep interest in the peaceful resolution of differences and the maintenance of international rules-based order,” remarked Adamson.

The Australian foreign secretary also briefed about the prominence of India and Japan in the country’s recently released White Paper on Foreign Policy, a first in fourteen years.

The North Korean nuclear crisis, nuclear proliferation and linkages that support it as well as counterterrorism were also on the table. The three sides stressed on cooperation in the Financial Action Task Force to crack down on terror financing.

“They also renewed their resolve to fight the scourge of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and stressed the need for enhanced cooperation on counterterrorism,” said the formal release.

The fifth trilateral consultations will take place in Tokyo.