'We’ve Got A Good Relationship With India': Senior Australian Minister On Past Reports About Spying

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong with Indonesian FM Retno Marsudi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar pose for a family photo before their meeting in Jakarta, July 12, 2023. (Reuters)

As reports emerged regarding the “expulsion of two Indian spies” from Australia in the past, a senior government minister in the country on Wednesday assured the bilateral ties with India is good and had improved in recent years.

“I don’t want to get into those kinds of operational issues in any way,” Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said during a television interview when asked whether India could be considered Australia’s friend amid spying reports. “We’ve got a good relationship with India and with other countries in the region, it’s an important economic relationship, it’s become closer in recent years as a consequence of efforts on both sides, and that’s a good thing,” Chalmers said.

‘Unwarranted and Unsubstantiated’

After The Washington Post emerged this week, India on Tuesday said this report made “unwarranted and unsubstantiated” imputations on a serious matter. “The report in question makes unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter. There is an ongoing investigation of the High-Level Committee set up by the Government of India to look into the security concerns shared by the US government on networks of organised criminals, terrorists and others. Speculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.

Earlier, Australian media reported on Tuesday that the country had expelled two Indian spies in 2020 for allegedly trying to “steal secrets” about sensitive defence projects and airport security. While The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald said two Indian spies were booted out, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) did not mention any number. “Indian spies were kicked out of Australia after being caught trying to steal secrets about sensitive defence projects and airport security, as well as classified information on Australia’s trade relationships,” the ABC report said.

The so-called foreign “nest of spies” disrupted by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) in 2020 was also accused of closely monitoring Indians living in Australia and developing close relationships with current and former politicians, it said. The reports came a day after The Washington Post named an Indian RAW official for allegedly plotting to assassinate Sikh extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil last year. The ABC said ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess first alluded to the spy ring in his annual threat assessment delivered in 2021, but he did not disclose which country was behind the activity.

(With agency inputs)