China-Australia relations: ‘answer to almost every question about China is India’, former PM Tony Abbott says
- Australia’s former prime minister lashes out at Beijing days after visiting New Delhi and stressing importance of trade deal with India
- Abbott was prime minister when China and Australia finalised a free-trade deal that took effect in 2015, after hosting a state visit by President Xi Jinping
Australian special envoy and former prime minister Tony Abbott said a free-trade agreement between his nation and India would signal the “democratic world’s tilt away from China”.
Abbott visited New Delhi last week as Australia’s special trade envoy for India as the Australian government has prioritised the sealing of a bilateral trade deal.
On Monday, in an opinion piece likely to anger Beijing, Abbott said the “answer to almost every question about China is India”.
“With the world’s other emerging superpower becoming more belligerent almost by the day, it’s in everyone’s interests that India take its rightful place among the nations as quickly as possible,” Abbott wrote in his column run by The Australian newspaper.
“Because trade deals are about politics as much as economics, a swift deal between India and Australia would be an important sign of the democratic world’s tilt away from China, as well as boosting the long-term prosperity of both our countries,” he added.