The High Commissions of India and Australia, in partnership with the Council of Geostrategy and King’s College London, co-hosted the inaugural Indo-Pacific Conference across three venues in the heart of London this week.
The conference, themed around ‘Deepening Cooperation for a More Secure, Resilient and Prosperous Indo-Pacific’, was jointly opened at Australia House by Australian High Commissioner to the UK Stephen Smith and his Indian counterpart Vikram Doraiswami.
Doraiswami said: “The abiding commitment of India and Australia to promoting a vision of a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific is reflected in the strength of our bilateral partnership. Our views are increasingly reflected by other key partners, with whom we work bilaterally and in plurilateral format, such as the US, Japan, ASEAN, and Korea.
“We welcome in this regard increased interest in the UK, as part of its Global Britain policy, to work with countries such as India and Australia, in support of this objective. Today, our partnership is clear testament to our collective responsibility in jointly shaping a region that thrives on inclusivity, a rules-based order, and mutual respect for sovereignty.
“And so, going beyond our littoral neighbourhood, as physical neighbours in London - India House, Australia House and King’s College are joining Council on Geostrategy to further develop a vital conversation on ‘Deepening Cooperation for a More Secure, Resilient and Prosperous Indo-Pacific’.”
Stephen Smith noted: “The Indo-Pacific has never been in greater focus, whether in Australia, India or here in the UK.
“This Conference – uniquely hosted by two High Commissions – is an important opportunity to explore how the regional security and economic dynamics are continuing to shape the strategic environment both in and beyond the Indo-Pacific. As three close partners, we all have a role to play in the Indo-Pacific and to work more closely together to support a secure, resilient, and prosperous region.”
Some of the key speakers from Australia, India and the UK included:
Jenny Bates, Director General, Indo-Pacific, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Professor Gordon Flake, Chief Executive of the Perth USAsia Centre, University of Western Australia
Sir Simon Gass, Centre for Grand Strategy at King’s College London
Ashok Malik, Partner, The Asia Group
The Hon Lisa Singh, Chief Executive Officer, the Australia India Institute
Professor Harsh V. Pant, King’s India Institute
James Rogers, Director of Research, Council on Geostrategy (think tank)
Dr Reuben Abraham, CEO, Artha Global
John Lee, Director, East West Futures
Sophia Gaston, Head of Foreign Policy and UK Resilience, Policy Exchange
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From Australia House, the conference moved to King’s College London before concluding at India House – all located close together at Aldwych, London.
Alessio Patalano, Professor of War and Strategy in East Asia at King’s College London, shared: “As ties with Australia and India grow strategically stronger, this initiative represents a most timely opportunity to create synergies and enhance the shared capacity to support the development of the international order in three critical domains: maritime, cyber, and technology.
“King’s College London has a longstanding intellectual and academic connection with Australia and India, and this event is both a reflection of the depth of these links and an opportunity to chart the direction of our ambition to add an academic layer to the UK Indo-Pacific engagement.
James Rogers and Viktorija Starych-Samuoliene, co-founders of the Council on Geostrategy, added: We are honoured and delighted to be partnering with the Australian High Commission, the Indian High Commission, and King’s College London for this important, high-level conference. Since our official launch in March 2021, the Council on Geostrategy has argued that the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific are collapsing into a single geopolitical space – the ‘Atlantic-Pacific’.
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“Indeed, as this conference will demonstrate, in an international environment increasingly defined by geopolitical competition, working together with our allies and partners to secure a free and open Indo-Pacific has never been more important.”
