Australia sees India as “completely central” to its “worldview”, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles. Stating that China was seeking to shape the world around it in a way that “we have not seen before”, he said Australia and India had a shared objective to try and protect the global rules-based order.
“For Australia, China is our largest trading partner, That’s the same for India. For Australia, China is our largest security anxiety and so is for India,” Mr. Marles said on Thursday talking to a select group of journalists before concluding his India visit.
Responding to questions on China, he said it was seeking to shape the world around it in a way that we have not seen before and that has really evolved in the last decade. “Especially in the last few years we have seen a more assertive Chinese behaviour with respect to that”, he said stating it was seen with India along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and in the South China Sea (SCS).
