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Australian PM's omission irks Indian community

Paritosh Parasher in Sydney

Expatriates have formally registered their protest against omission of India's name in Australian Prime Minister John Howard's foreign policy speech.

The Federation of Australian Indian Associations, the newly formed umbrella body of Indian associations in New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory, organised a meeting at Granville Town Hall on Sunday.

Fourteen associations, including the Marathi Association, Gujarati Samaj and Australia Hindi Indian Association, took part in the meet that was given wide coverage by Australia's state-owned free-to-air SBS Television channel in its evening news bulletin.

Marathi Association president Sharad Pathak, who convened the meeting said, "Basically, we are concerned about the exclusion of India's name in the major foreign policy speech by the Australian prime minister. We find it a bit hard to comprehend why India was not mentioned while so many other countries were."

"India is not an ordinary country. It is a superpower which Australia cannot afford to ignore," said Vish Vishwanathan of Sydney Tamil Manaram after the FAIA meeting on Sunday.

"Australia should utilise every opportunity to benefit from Indian strength not only in technology but also in social and cultural aspects to become a truly multicultural society."

FAIA also plans to send letters expressing the Indian community's disappointment to Howard, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, Immigration and Ethnic Affairs Minister Philip Ruddock, Indian High Commissioner R S Rathore and Consul General Madhusudan Ganapathi.

AHIA head Prahlad Srivastva said, "I feel Indians in Australia have made significant contributions in the fields of technology, medicine, business and other walks of life. We are one of the best-settled ethnic groups in Australia.

"Howard's omission of India's name is a bit awkward as, beside being a large market, India is also a large regional power and both have to gain if our partnership strengthens continuously."

It is not just diaspora organisations that are perturbed by the exclusion of India's name in Howard's speech. Australian newspapers have also been commenting on the issue -- notably the country's two leading newspapers -- Sydney Morning Herald and The Australia.

Rekha Bhatta, publisher of community newspaper Indian Post, said, "Howard should have mentioned India as it is not only a significant regional player but also an emerging international super power.

"For economic and regional security issues, Australia needs India more than the other way around. So in the light of such ground realities, India's exclusion is simply inexplicable."

There was a consensus at the FAIA meeting that India's omission was not a faux pas on the part of Howard's speechwriter.

Pathak said, "These speeches are prepared after lots of deliberations, inputs and discussions so we cannot believe India was left out because of someone overlooking the fact that India should figure really high in Australian foreign policy strategy."

He hoped the Australia's political leadership would take some 'corrective steps' before Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to Australia for the Commonwealth summit next month.

Vishwanathan said, "I cannot believe it was a mistake to not to refer to India. It's really unfortunate as India and Australia relations are now closest ever. Vajpayee is about to visit Australia and, as a community representative, I am feeling really bad on this issue."

Indo-Asian News Service

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