Australia, India and Japan are three powers whose strategic interests have converged significantly in recent years – yet there remains space to turn shared interests into joint actions. In the face of increased Chinese assertiveness and declining US reliability, the Australia-Japan-India trilateral could play an important regional balancing role post-COVID-19. Opportunities for trilateral coordination include in the strategic domain, regional infrastructure initiatives, the technology space and in regional institutions.

Key points:

• In the post-COVID-19 order, there will be a need to rebuild disrupted global supply chains, restore strained institutions of global governance, and uphold a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific.
• Australia, India and Japan are three powers whose strategic interests have converged significantly in recent years – yet there remains space to turn shared interests into joint actions.
• In the face of increased Chinese assertiveness and declining US reliability, the Australia-Japan-India trilateral could play an important regional balancing role post-COVID-19.
• Opportunities for trilateral coordination include in the strategic domain, regional infrastructure initiatives, the technology space and in regional institutions.