The elephant and the kangaroo

BRAHMA CHELLANEY of the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi calls for a close India-Australia strategic relationship, given the common security interests in several spheres that bind the two democracies and contrasts it with the reality of the drift in their ties in the recent past. In a Japan Times article "Asia's new strategic partners", he states that the new security agreement will help add concrete strategic content to the relationship and lead to increasing policy coordination on Asian and international affairs

Canberra's blind spot

John Lee, fellow at the Sydney-based Center for Independent Studies states that despite the abundance  of  strategic  and diplomatic activity in the region reflecting New Delhi’s growing importance, India remains Australia’s great ‘strategic blind-spot' and as a result Canberra's diplomatic engagement with New Delhi was poor. In a Foreign Policy Analysis paper, "The importance of India: Restoring sight to Australia's strategic blind spot" he traces the rise of 'strategic India' and the continuing weak Canberra-New Delhi link in the wake of India's improving government-to-government relationships with key security partners in the Asia-Pacific.

Unconventional partners in nuclear sphere: India, Australia

Amandeep Gill, visiting fellow at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation and Rory Medcalf, director of International Security at the Lowy Institute argue that an innovative partnership between Australia and India would help erode the entrenched blocs that impede progress on nuclear disarmament. In a policy brief, "Unconventional partners: Australia-India cooperation in reducing nuclear dangers", they recommend a specialised bilateral dialogue, practical cooperation on non-proliferation export controls, promotion of Indian involvement in the so-called Australia Group to raise comfort levels between New Delhi and other such arrangements.