India-France-Australia trilateral to focus on securing supply chains

The Ministerial level meet will also focus on stronger ties with the ASEAN bloc to counter Chinese influence, officials said

Securing supply chains across categories will be the principal aim of the upcoming India-France-Australia trilateral later this week. In the backdrop of the now seven-month-long Ukraine war which has been worsening food security and causing a scarcity of wheat in particular, and the increasing economic friction with China, all three nations want to prioritise supply chains, officials said.

They added that closer economic integration with countries in the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) block would also be on the agenda.

The ministerial level trilateral will be attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is currently in New York on a 10-day visit till September 28 for the 77th session of the UN General Assembly. It would be held nearly a year and a half after the first such meet and a year after France pulled out of the grouping to protest the security pact between Australia, United Kingdom, and United States (AUKUS) and the submarine deal by the US and UK with Australia.

However, during the visit of French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna to New Delhi last week, it was announced the trilateral meet would again be held. "The trilateral is an important forum for the three countries to discuss shared mutual concerns regarding the strategic, security, economic and environmental challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. All the parties recognize its importance," an official said.

It is expected to focus on supply chains in line with the necessary importance being attached to the issue by India in other forums as well, the official added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently stressed upon the issue of supply chains at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, saying Covid-19 and the Ukraine situation have resulted in hurdles in the global supply chain, culminating in food and energy security crisis.

India has focused on supply chains in another key trilateral. The Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) was launched in April 2022 by the Trade Ministers of India, Japan and Australia. It had considered supporting joint measures such as the enhanced utilisation of digital technology and trade, and investment diversification, which is seen as being aimed at reducing their reliance on China. Sources said similar measures can easily be adopted for the India-Australia-France trilateral.

Stronger ties with Asean

The trilateral would also focus on forging stronger bonds with the ASEAN group of countries, officials said. ASEAN is an economic and political union of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The group includes economic powerhouses such as Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, all of which have had good bilateral ties with India while Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand have become industrial hubs for specialised products ranging from electronics, apparel, and auto components.

However, Chinese influence in these nations, often guaranteed through massive investments, has been a lingering concern for India, and recently for Australia. Nations in the region also often act as important staging points for export by Chinese corporations. Disruptions to the supply chain of products exported from these nations have become a particular worry as an increasingly belligerent China has often clashed on economic and diplomatic issues with India and Australia," another official said.

Earlier this year, at a special meeting of Foreign Ministers of ASEAN countries, Jaishankar said both India and ASEAN face geopolitical headwinds from the war in Ukraine and its knock-on effects on food and energy security as well as fertiliser and commodities prices and logistics and supply chain disruptions.

The first trilateral between India, France and Australia had reaffirmed commitment to ASEAN's centrality and support for ASEAN's outlook on the Indo-Pacific. The three nations had also noted ASEAN's complementarity with India's Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative, which aims to expand and facilitate regional cooperation with India's maritime neighbours.

The bloc is a key component of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade deal, which includes Australia and China. It has become important in Australian foreign policy ever since diplomatic tussle with China over maritime boundaries in the South China sea and other issues, had led to a realignment with foreign policy. As of 2020, Australia's trade with ASEAN countries was $100.6 billion, greater than its two-way trade with Japan and the United States. Australia also wants to reduce its trade dependance on China.