Ties with India need 'Test match' perseverance: Australia

Australia today compared its ties with India to the game of cricket, popular in both countries, with its foreign minister saying that relationship should be like a test match rather than a short burst 20/20 game.

Giving an update in the parliament on attacks on Indians in Australia and its fallout on ties with India, foreign minister Stephen Smith could not resist drawing a simile between cricket and bilateral ties.

He said relations with India needed to be treated as a test match rather than as a 20/20 game of cricket involving "short bursts of enthusiasm followed by lengthy periods of inactivity".

"We need to treat the relationship like a test match," Smith said. Elaborating, he said, like a test match New Delhi and Canberra should work with "diligence, dedication, application and perseverance day in and day out to extend the partnership".

He compared Australia's earlier approaches to India to a
20/20 cricket match. "The era of inactivity and even neglect is over," Smith told the parliament.