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

PAWAN LUTHRA

Ahigh-ranking Indian diplomat often expressed his exasperation with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in his first term of office, as to his leanings towards China. The sentiment in South Hall was that under Rudd, the Australia-China relationship was a bit more warm and cosy than it needed to be. India was frustrated at the way the Labor Party under Kevin Rudd rebuffed India’s diplomats, especially in the area of uranium sales. In the dying days of the Howard government, it was announced that should the Coalition return to power, they would initiate steps to sell uranium to India. However, with Labor taking control in 2007, in his first stint at prime ministership, Kevin Rudd made no moves to progress any discussion on this topic; in fact, it was put without consulting her then Foreign Minister Rudd, who was only informed of this after it was publicly announced. This decision was made in December 2011 and to date little progress has been made in practical terms. One expects that under the reincarnation of Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister, not much will happen in this regard. Interestingly, Rudd supporters, such as current Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Labor stalwart Doug Cameron, both disagreed with the then PM Gillard’s decision. 2008-2009 was the period when the students’ crisis had rocked the relations between India and Australia. An enduring image from the time is that of Rudd’s effigy being burnt by demonstrators outside the Australian High Commission in India. While this was certainly not pleasant, it further distanced Kevin Rudd from all things Indian.

As to how the Indian community in Australia reacts to the change of leadership in the Labor Party will be interesting to observe. Over the past