Source — AITW Ep048 — Harinder Sidhu on the Australia-India Relationship¶

Episode Metadata¶

Field	Value
Episode number	48
Title	Ep. 48: Harinder Sidhu, former High Commissioner to India, on the Australia-India relationship
Publication date	2020-06-02
Recording date	Monday, 18 May 2020 (Darren: "today, Monday the 18th of May")
Guests	Harinder Sidhu (former Australian High Commissioner, New Delhi)
Allan present	Yes
Format	Guest interview — remote

Summary¶

Guest interview with Harinder Sidhu, recently returned from New Delhi. Topics: India's evolving strategic identity under Modi; the NAM still existing ("Non-aligned against who?" — Allan); India's trade stance and the RCEP disappointment; the Australia-India bilateral history (Allan's assessment: every government since 1947 has "discovered" India once); the Indian-Australian diaspora as a strategic asset; Harinder's personal experience as a woman of Indian heritage serving as High Commissioner; the economics-security integration question. Allan is mainly in interviewer mode, but two moments stand out: (1) his historical formulation about Australia repeatedly "discovering" India, and (2) Harinder's reference to having pulled out Fear of Abandonment and found the India chapter brief — providing new textual evidence about the book's content. Allan was also "on the record" as being disappointed that India didn't join RCEP. No reading segment.

Key Quotations¶

"Every Australian government since 1947 had discovered India at least once in its term of office"¶

"When I was writing about the history of Australian foreign policy, I came to the conclusion that every Australian government since 1947 had discovered India at least once in its term of office, decided that more should be invested in the relationship, exchanged ministerial [visits]... But this time may be different. From your perspective, is it? I guess you're going to say yes. But why is it?"

— [00:25:05.040 --> 00:25:44.400]

A compressed historical verdict, delivered as the set-up for a question. The word "discovered" is wry — as though India were a continent periodically found again rather than a continuous relationship. The parenthetical "I guess you're going to say yes" is characteristic self-awareness about the dynamics of asking someone to assess their own recent posting. He is pre-empting the answer while still wanting the reasoning. The formulation also comes with a citation: "when I was writing about the history of Australian foreign policy" — confirming this conclusion is from Fear of Abandonment, not improvised for the podcast.

"Non-aligned against who?"¶

"I saw the other day that Prime Minister Modi participated in a non-aligned movement meeting. And to be honest, I didn't actually know that the non-aligned movement still existed. Non-aligned against who? But the NAM, of course, was India's original instrument for international leadership."

— [00:06:06.840 --> 00:06:33.420]

A comic aside that is also a genuine question. Allan admits he didn't know the NAM still existed — a rare disclosure of ignorance about an international institution. The follow-up question — "non-aligned against who?" — makes the analytical point: the NAM was founded against Cold War bloc alignment; that Cold War is over; the organisation has persisted past its original rationale. He then recovers the historical thread ("was India's original instrument for international leadership") to return to the interview. The self-deprecating admission is characteristic; so is the quick pivot back to the substantive.

"You were on the record, weren't you?" (on RCEP)¶

Harinder: "I was pretty much on the record as saying, you know, how very disappointed I was that India didn't join [RCEP]." Allan: "You were on the record." Harinder: "I was." Allan: "I was."

— [00:15:55.040 --> 00:15:57.860]

A brief exchange confirming that both Allan and Harinder publicly expressed disappointment that India did not sign the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Allan's "I was" confirms he made that assessment in public — consistent with his corpus-wide advocacy for open trade architecture and his view that Australia's interests lie in a rules-based international economic order. The exchange is three lines and entirely unremarkable in delivery; its significance is evidential.

Biographical Fragments¶

Evidence type: New — Fear of Abandonment content; Harinder Sidhu at ONA

Fear of Abandonment — India chapter confirmed as brief: Harinder: "I pulled out your book and I read your entry on India. It didn't take me long because it didn't occupy a lot of space. But you say something right at the end of the entry on India... in the absence of [shared strategic interests, shared values alone is not enough]." The India chapter in Fear of Abandonment is apparently short by comparison with other bilateral relationships. The content Harinder cites (shared values alone are insufficient without strategic convergence) is consistent with the analytical position Allan has maintained on the Australia-India relationship throughout the corpus. (Ep048)
Harinder Sidhu spent four years at ONA: Allan in his introduction: "She spent four years in the Office of National Assessments." Another member of the ONA community across Allan's career — he introduces her as a former ONA analyst (among many other roles). Adds to the growing picture of ONA as a professional network running through many of Allan's guest introductions. (Ep048)
"Every government since 1947 has discovered India once" — the phrase is attributed to Fear of Abandonment: Allan says "when I was writing about the history of Australian foreign policy, I came to the conclusion that..." This is a direct citation of the book's content. (Ep048 — new content from Fear of Abandonment)

Style and Method Evidence¶

"I guess you're going to say yes": Allan pre-empts Harinder's likely answer about whether Australia's India engagement is different this time. This is a technique for indicating he already has the likely answer but wants the reasoning — and for keeping the guest honest about potential bias. Characteristic: he signals what he expects rather than pretending to be open-minded, which would be less useful.
Self-admitted ignorance about the NAM's continued existence: Rare. Allan is willing to say he didn't know something, especially about an institution he clearly knows the history of. The "Non-aligned against who?" question is both self-deprecating and analytically pointed.
Introducing ONA connections across guests: This is the third guest introduced as having worked at ONA (after Richard Maude in Ep041, Heather Smith in Ep047). Allan's ONA world is becoming visible through the guest list.

Open Questions¶

Fear of Abandonment — the India chapter: Harinder quotes Allan as writing "in the absence of [shared strategic interests], shared values alone is not going to give you a worthwhile relationship." What is the full passage? When was the book published (still unclear from corpus)?
Allan publicly expressed disappointment about India not joining RCEP — when and in what venue? Is there a written piece?
Harinder's 4 years at ONA — in what capacity? Did this overlap with Allan's tenure as DG (~2007/8–~2013/14)? She joined DFAT in 1987 and had varied postings; the ONA stint's timing would need confirmation.
Harinder as a potential biography project interview subject: she worked at ONA and was a close professional contemporary of Allan's. Worth adding to the research leads file.