In recent months, Australia and India have elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership

Australia backed India’s stand on the India China standoff and said it opposes any attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The message was communicated to External Minister S. Jaishankar by Australian High Commissioner Barry O’ Farrell during a meeting, said a Hindustan Times report.

O’Farrell said that attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo will “increase tension and the risk of instability;” the report quoted his statement.

“It is important that the bilaterally-agreed principles and norms that have helped prevent escalation or miscalculation in the border areas over many decades continue to be observed,” he added.

In recent weeks, India has repeatedly said that it opposes any unilateral efforts to change the status quo along the LAC as well as the deployment of tens of thousands of Indian and Chinese troops, said the report.

India and Australia have elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership and signed an agreement for reciprocal access to military logistics during a virtual summit last month, the report said.

Australia has also backed India’s calls for reform of the World Health Organization (WHO). During a meeting, the US and Australian defense and foreign ministers in Washington envisaged the role of India in defence cooperation and post Covid19 recovery effects in the Indo-Pacific, said the report.

According to the Hindustan Times report, Australia is deeply concerned by China’s actions in the South China Sea. On July 23, Australia lodged a note with the UN Secretary-General disproving China’s “unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea;” the report quoted the note.

The report also quoted a senior official as saying Indo-Pacific “serves as a canvas for framing policy responses to Chinese power.”