Rising Power and Changing People: The Australian High Commission in India

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Beginning in 1943–44, Australia’s relationship with India is its oldest continuous formal diplomatic relationship with any Asian country. The early diplomatic exchanges between Australia and India have teased for their suggestions of potential unrealised, for opportunities missed, especially when compared with the very recent excitement about the future of Australia–India relations. How did Australia’s representatives and their staff in New Delhi negotiate the many dimensions of Australia–India relations? This book brings together expert analyses of the work of the Australian High Commission, its key people and the challenges they faced in New Delhi. The important India Economic Strategy to 2035 report handed to the Australian Government in mid-2018 begins with the comment: ‘Timing has always been a challenge in Australia’s relationship with India.’ As the Australian Government works to implement some of the ambitious recommendations in the report, this book adds to our understanding of why timing has been a challenge, and how those at the coalface of the relationship have grappled with it. Abbreviations List of Figures Figure 0.1. High commissioner’s official residence, 1970. Figure 4.1. High Commissioner James Plimsoll, after presenting his credentials, with Indian President Dr Radhakrishnan, 10 March 1963. Figure 5.1. Stein’s Australian Chancery, New Delhi, 1966. Figure 5.2. Chancery building, 1970. Figure 6.1. ABC Correspondent Don Hook with Bengali refugees, Calcutta, 1971. Figure 6.2. Dacca family fleeing the city with their staff and luggage piled on an oxcart on the way to the countryside, 29 March 1971. Figure 6.3. Recognise Bangladesh Rally in Trafalgar Square, 8 August 1971. Figure 6.4. ‘Once we’ve worked out how to recognise them, let’s try it out on China!’ Stewart McCrae, Courier Mail, 1971. Figure 6.5. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman pictured in Dacca, Bangladesh, 3 March 1971. Figure 7.1. Photo of the welcome for Sir Patrick and Lady Shaw, Assam, March 1973. Select Chronology Australia–India Relations: The View from New Delhi 1. Creating the Diplomatic Relationship 2. Two Conferences on Asian Matters in New Delhi 3. New Delhi and Canberra in the 1950s 4. The Ambassador Extraordinary and the Formidable Public Servant: Sir James Plimsoll and Sir Arthur Tange, 1963–69 5. The Buildings and their Locally Engaged Staff 6. The Bangladesh Crisis Seen from New Delhi 7. Mediating Middle Powers: Shaw, Grant, Curtis and Upton, 1972–83 8. Arresting the Drift: The Graham Feakes Era 9. Trade and Education: Australia–India, 1998–2008 10. Building an Indo-Pacific Security Partnership 11. High Commissioners as Scholarly Observers: Crocker on Nehru, and Grant on Indira Gandhi 12. Reflections on Australia–India Relations since the 1990s, by Peter Varghese AO, October 2016 Australian High Commissioners to India Select Bibliography Notes on Contributors Index Пустая страница Пустая страница