The improvement of diplomacy and bilateral ties between India and Australia seems to have spooked China. On Monday, the English version of Chinese Communist party mouthpiece Global Times published an article on the bilateral trade ties and defence deal signed by India and Australia.
Last week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart stepped up partnership and concluded nine arrangements including mutual logistics support for militaries. The pact is aimed to give Indian warships and aircrafts enhanced reach towards the Pacific. India has similar such pacts with America and France.
Chinese government media alleged that this move is a join effort between India and Australia to counter China. “Yet after the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, India seems to be worrying that its own international status is declining while China’s influence is rising, especially in regions such as South Asia and Africa where India wishes to play an influential role. Therefore, its attitude toward China has to some extent changed,” Global Times writes.
Chinese media further said how military cooperation between India and Australia “will shape a confrontational atmosphere in the region, jeopardizing peace and stability.”
ScoMosas diplomacy
This criticism of India-Australia diplomacy comes close on the heels of the very evident camaraderie Prime Minister Modi shares with his Australian counterpart PM Scott Morrison. Prior to the video conference between the two leaders, PM Morrison had shared image of vegetarian samosas he had prepared and expressed his wish to share the same with PM Modi.
https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1267006484543606786?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwPrime Minister Modi too shared that once the coronavirus pandemic is history he would like to share samosas with PM Morrison as well.
Amusingly, even over the ScoMosas, some ‘liberals’ in India had a meltdown over improvement in bilateral ties.