Australian PM Anthony Albanese has said matters like the expulsion of “spies” are raised “privately” when he meets his counterpart Narendra Modi. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said matters like the expulsion of “spies” are raised “privately” when asked if an incident involving Indian citizens will come up when he meets his counterpart Narendra Modi at the Quad summit.

Mr. Albanese was replying to a specific question from the media ahead of the meeting on Saturday (September 21) in Delaware being attended by him and leaders from India, the U.S. and Japan.

The reported incident took place in 2020 and came to light in April this year. He was asked what would he be asking Mr. Modi to “cease and desist from that kind of spying on Australian soil”.

Mr. Albanese said, “Well, what I do is act diplomatically and have those discussions, and that will, no doubt, be something that is raised.”

“But the relationship between Australia and India is a very strong one. I’ll be talking with Prime Minister Modi about our Comprehensive Economic Partnership, we want to see concluded. We have had increased economic relations between our two great nations,” Mr. Albanese said in Philadelphia on Thursday (September 18).

Answering a related question, he said, “What I do is, I raise issues privately – is how that we deal with things diplomatically, and I’ll continue to do so.”

According to reports, Australia expelled two Indian spies in 2020 for allegedly trying to “steal secrets” about sensitive defence projects and airport security.

While The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald said two Indian spies were booted out, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) did not mention any number.

Mike Burgess, Director-General, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. Photo: X/@ASIOGovAu

Australia expelled two Indian spies in 2020 for allegedly trying to “steal secrets” about sensitive defence projects and airport security, the Australian media reported on April 30.

While The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald said two Indian spies were booted out, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) did not mention any number.

Also read | Australia has laws to deal with foreign interference: Penny Wong

There was no immediate comment from Indian officials on the Australian media reports.

“Indian spies were kicked out of Australia after being caught trying to steal secrets about sensitive defence projects and airport security, as well as classified information on Australia’s trade relationships,” the ABC report said.

The so-called foreign “nest of spies” disrupted by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) in 2020 was also accused of closely monitoring Indians living in Australia and developing close relationships with current and former politicians, it said.

The reports came a day after The Washington Post named an Indian RAW official for allegedly plotting to assassinate Sikh extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil last year.

India on April 30 said The Washington Post report made “unwarranted and unsubstantiated” imputations on a serious matter.

The Washington Post report also said that two RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) officers were expelled from Australia in 2020.

The ABC said ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess first alluded to the spy ring in his annual threat assessment delivered in 2021, but he did not disclose which country was behind the activity.

“The spies developed targeted relationships with current and former politicians, a foreign embassy and a state police service,” the report quoted Mr. Burgess as saying during his March 2021 speech inside ASIO’s Canberra headquarters.

“They monitored their country’s diaspora community. They tried to obtain classified information about Australia’s trade relationships,” he said.

Mr. Burgess also detailed how the “nest of spies” had successfully cultivated and recruited an Australian government security clearance holder who had access to “sensitive details of defence technology”, the ABC report said.