India’s policy towards Australia under Modi’s administration

ABSTRACT India and Australia’s relationships have been strengthening since 2014, when Narendra Modi was sworn in as India’s Prime Minister, and put the country on a new trajectory of expanding regional influence and positioning itself as a regional player in the wake of China’s rise. Modi’s government has shown keen interest in furthering the strategic partnership with Australia, which enables India’s presence in the security and strategic architecture in the Indo-Pacific region. This paper attempts to answer the following questions: first, why India’s policy towards Australia has transformed under Modi’s administration by the rising power influence of China? Second, in the context of the state’s policy response, how may India’s diplomatic policies toward Australia be evaluated? This paper examines the evolution of India’s diplomacy toward Australia, as well as the geo-strategic and geo-economic factors that have influenced it. The strategic nature of diplomatic policies allows us to grasp the growing significance of India-Australia relations, as well as their strategic implications for rapidly changing regional politics.