The natural/neglected relationship: liberalism, identity and India–Australia relations

Abstract

Recent commentary on India–Australia relations has defined the relationship as ‘natural’ and based on ‘shared values’ and ‘shared history’. The relationship has simultaneously been considered ‘neglected’. The paradoxical juxtaposition of a natural/neglected partnership is yet to be adequately explained. We consider the historical construction of liberalism in both states as a facet of state identity to argue that, far from creating a natural relationship, differing liberal identities have served to keep these two states apart. This is illustrated through case studies of divergent opinions over the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and the rise of China.

Keywords:

• India–Australia relations
• Australian foreign policy
• Indian foreign policy
• liberalism
• postcolonialism

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Alan Bloomfield and Sarah Graham of the University of Sydney and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback on the earlier drafts of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Emphasising that the two states are democracies and that this should make the two states attractive partners for one another is a common facet of scholarly discourse on the relationship, see Roy (2011); Gurry, 2012: 296 and Medcalf and Gill (2009).

2. See the trade statistics on the Indian Department of Commerce website: http://commerce.nic.in/eidb/iecntq.asp

3. All of these statistics are taken from the Indian Department of Commerce website: http://commerce.nic.in/eidb/iecntq.asp

4. Australian, Canadian and British diplomats frequently voiced their frustration with India's perceived ‘obsession’ with colonialism. See Crocker, 1961.