Australia’s ‘quiet diplomacy’ approach to human rights in India has failed, advocates say

The Australian government has refused to be drawn on human rights in India, prompting accusations it has shelved uncomfortable issues to boost trade and security ties.

Human Rights Watch said the "quiet diplomacy" approach favoured by the west had failed to have any visible impact on India and urged the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to raise human rights during his visit to the country next week.

BBC offices in India were raided by tax department officials in February, just weeks after the release of a documentary critical of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, which examined rising tensions between his Hindu nationalist government and the minority Muslim population.

The Indian government invoked emergency laws to block the documentary, which included details from a British Foreign Office report that alleged Modi was "directly responsible" for a "climate of impunity" that enabled deadly riots in the western state of Gujarat in 2002.

Modi, who was the chief minister of Gujarat at the time, denies the allegations. A spokesperson for India's foreign ministry said the documentary - released in January - lacked objectivity and reflected a "continuing colonial mindset".

Ahead of his planned trip to India next week, Albanese was asked about the Gujarat riot allegations and whether he would raise contemporary human rights concerns with Modi.

The prime minister did not engage with the substance of the question. He said he was determined to build a better relationship between Australia and India and he looked forward to having "positive discussions" with Modi.

"One of the things that my government has done also is to return to acting like a diplomatic government should," Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday. "We'll continue to act in that vein to develop positive relationships. We always stand up for our values."

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, also did not go into detail about the issue during a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday before a G20 meeting.

Wong said she understood the "specific issue" a journalist had raised regarding the Gujarat riots was "traversed through the Indian legal system and that's a matter for the Indian legal system".

That was a reference to a supreme court panel saying 10 years ago that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Modi.

Wong added that Australia and India were "close friends" and "comprehensive strategic partners" and "we engage on human rights issues regularly".

Asked whether she was concerned about the banning of the BBC documentary, Wong said: "Obviously, we have engaged with the Indian system on those issues and on other issues."

Pressed to outline Australia's reaction to the subsequent raids on the BBC, Wong said: "Well, as I've said to you, we have engaged with the Indian system on those issues."

Asked again what she meant by that comment, Wong said: "That's what I mean. Those are the words I'm using and I'm not going to go into those matters any further."

At another press conference in New Delhi on Thursday, Wong said Australia would "not walk away from our support for human rights".

"Of course we engage with all countries appropriately about our support for human rights," she said.

"I don't believe that that engagement is always something that needs to go through media outlets."

Elaine Pearson, the Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said Albanese and Wong "should be unequivocal in raising human rights concerns with Modi during their visits to India, pointing out that how his government's actions belie its international claims of upholding democratic principles".

Pearson said the Modi government had "adopted discriminatory laws and policies against Muslims and other religious minorities" and "attempted to curb independent institutions".

"Independent journalists are forced to self-censor, while pro-government media edge on incitement to violence against minorities and critics, even justifying tax raids on the BBC following a critical documentary about Modi that aired recently," she said.

Pearson said if Albanese and Wong were "uncomfortable raising these concerns because they want closer trade and security ties with the Indian government, they should think long and hard about all the people who have been silenced in India who aren't able to speak up because they fear being arrested or prosecuted".

She said the quiet diplomacy approach had led to "led to growing sentiment that Australia is willing to overlook the plight of affected communities in India" because it needed India as an ally against China.

Kanchan Gupta, an adviser at India's ministry of information and broadcasting, last month denied there was a government crackdown on media. He said the three-day visit by more than 50 officers from the income tax department to the Delhi and Mumbai offices of the BBC was a routine check.

The Indian government has previously dismissed "ill-informed" attacks on the country's human rights record, saying it "values religious freedom and human rights".