Rudd's return will slow down the India-Oz relationship

Ahigh -ranking Indian d i p lomat often expressed his exasperation widi Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in his first te rm of office, as to his leanings towa rds China. The sentiment in South Hall was iliac tmder Rudd, die Australia- China re lationship was a bit more warm and cosy than ic needed co be. India was frustrated at die way the Labor Party under Kevin Rudd rebuffed India's cliplomats, especially in d1e area of uranium sales. In the dyi n g days of the Howard government, it was announced iliac should the Coalition recurn ro power, iliey would initiate steps to sell uranium to India. However, wim Labor caking control in 2007, in his first stint at prime ministership, Kevin Rudd made no moves to progress any cliscussion on iliis topic; in fact, it was put on die back burner.

lt was under the next prime minister Julia Gillard, that me Labor caucus end orsed die sale of die p recious yellow cake to Ind ia. Interestingl y enough, this decision seemingly was undertaken w ithout consulting he r then Foreign Ministe r Rudd, who was only informed of this after i t ,vas p ublicly an nounced. This decision was made in December 20 11 and to date Ii ttle progress has been made in practical terms. O n e expects thac: under the reincarnation of Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister, nor much will happen in th is regard. Interestingly, Rudd supporters, such as current Deputy Prime J\folister Anthony Albanese and Labor stalwart Doug Cameron, both disagreed wi ch die then P1vf G illard 's decision. 2008- 2009 was the per iod when the smdents' crisis had rocked the relations between India and Australi a. An endur tng i mage from the time is di at of Rudd's effigy be ing burnt by demonstrato rs outside di e Australian High Commission in India. While this was certainly not pleasant, it further distanced Kevin Ru dd from all d1ings lndian.

As to how die Indian community in i\u s[[alia reacts to the change of leadership in the Labor Party will be interesting to observe. Over the past few months, iliere hHs been a concerted effort by the subcontinent friends of Labor to reach om to the lnclians in Australia. Pormer PM G il lard's visit to me Parklea gurudwara, a m eet-and-greet w ith selected rueclia at Kirribilli House, weekend fundraisers for the LHbor Party within me Indian co mmunity and the constant parade of Labor's margina l seat politici ans at Indian functions. These ha,,e all shown die importance given to die lndian vote at the next elections. \X l hether the new (or old?) Prune Mitlister Rudd will embark on simi11-r gimnlicks will be interesting to observe.

However, i f history is any indication, PM Rudd will prefer co practice his Mandarin at local Chinese functions, railier than covet di e lnclian vote Australian lndians will also remember p romises and grand iose sta tem ents such as the 20/20 fonm1s, g rocery watch, fuel watch, the Jack of coherent policy on 'the g reatest moral challenge of our times' and carbon tax, the clismantling of the Pacific solution of the Howard government, the near breakdown in the working of me government after d isagreements in the kitchen cab inet etc. \Xlhi.Je all iliese can be forgiven, what the Australian Indian community will be watching, is how the relationship between India and Australia progresses under a reincarnated Kevin Rudd.

Pawan Luthra is the current Parliament of NSW Multicul tural Journalist of the Year.