MELBOURNE, Australia May 1, (AP): A senior Australian government minister said Wednesday the bilateral relationship with India was good and had improved in recent years, but declined to comment on reports that two Indian spies were secretly expelled from Australia four years ago.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers was asked during a television interview whether India could be considered Australia’s friend after Australian news media and The Washington Post reported the two intelligence operatives’ quiet expulsion.
Chalmers told Australian Broadcasting Corp., "I don’t want to get into those kinds of operational issues in any way.”
"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.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong deflected questions Wednesday at press conferences about India’s reported spying, using the government's standard line that they did not comment on intelligence matters.
India is an increasingly important trading partner of Australia, which is trying to reduce its economic reliance on China.
India and Australia are also developing closer military ties as members of the Quad security dialogue that also includes the United States and Japan.
The center-left Labor Party government was not in power when the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the nation’s main domestic spy agency, removed the two spies.