Watch! Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison weighs in on US, Iran peace deal

I welcome it. I think it's very positive and we'll have to wait and see it come into implementation. There have been a number of occasions where there's been announcements of deals of this nature and this does seem to be the most promising. So we hope that it is able to stick and we can see the opening up of the Strait of Hormuz and move to greater stability than what we've seen over the last 100 days. But I think we need to be aware that this will take some time to work through. You can't just switch these things straight back on and I'm sure there will continue to be surprises along the way. That's certainly been the nature of things up until now. But obviously it's a breakthrough that's welcome that everybody has been hoping can be achieved. We don't know all the details of what this arrangement is at this point, or at least not that I've seen. And I hope very much that it's been able to address the core issue which has been Iran's insistence on having a nuclear weapons program, which is unacceptable.

Well, it has an obvious impact, I think, whether it's for India or for Australia or Southeast Asia or even North Asia. I think they're the areas that have been most affected by this. The United States has an energy independence which somewhat quarantined it from the impacts of this. That said, there were still inflationary impacts on energy prices in the United States which was pushing up inflation, but those impacts were far more keenly felt in our part of the world in the Indo-Pacific. So this is obviously a welcome development, but I think as much as the Strait of Hormuz being opened is welcomed in the short term, what this has highlighted is the risk to such blockages in the future and the need to have a set of stability arrangements which prevent that from happening again. But in addition to that, I think there needs to be greater focus on what the resilience investment is now required right across whether it's the Indian Ocean maritime domain or elsewhere to ensure that if there are similar shocks like this in the future, then they are more readily worked around.

I don't think there's any real change here. I mean, Israel has its interests and Israel has been fired upon by Hezbollah and it's understandable that Israel would reply in kind. And I'm sure while it might be frustrating for the United States, I'm sure that they understand that ultimately that's a relationship that is big enough to be able to absorb these differences from time to time. And my hope is that Hezbollah can be removed. My hope is that Hamas can be removed. I think we need to remind ourselves that the very reason we have just been through what we have all just been through is because on October 7, 2023, Hamas, a proxy of Iran, attacked Israel in the most despicable way imaginable. And so that cancer remains in the region and it needs to be eradicated.

This is the way these things are done and it carries some uncertainties in terms of how it progresses to a final arrangement, but it's certainly better than where we've been. And hopefully that will bring some near-term stability. But I think while you may remark about how Iran feels about the United States, quite frankly Iran is the most disreputable, untrustworthy regime on the planet. And there will always be grave concerns about whether Iran would ever honor any deal. I mean, this is a country that has been calling for the destruction of Israel and death to America for 49 years. So I think the real test of trust here is on Iran.

Well, as always, I think Prime Minister Modi has been very constructive. I think he's been very patient and I think he's played a positive role. At the same time, the prime minister has had to manage the very real risk to India's own economic security and its own fuel reserves and its fuel supply, for which it has been dependent upon the Gulf. So he's had to manage very serious issues domestically as well as stepping up and providing a constructive role internationally. And I think Prime Minister Modi should receive a great deal of credit for that. But ultimately, this is a deal that has been brought about by the persistence of the US president and his negotiators, and I commend President Trump on having achieved this.

Yes. This has been true for a long time. It's the same in terms of how China has sought to impose itself on the Indo-Pacific and threaten the region. And of course we need to diversify our supply chains because of those types of threats. I mean, the world has moved into a phase where supply chains are weaponized, and as a result you need diversification and you need resilience of flows. And that resilience of flows just doesn't apply to oil and fuel and gas and fertilizer, which were most impacted by the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, but it also relates to data and submarine cables and space and any number of other channels through which important flows occur which support our economies. And I think what all this boils down to is the need for investments in resilience infrastructure. And I think India and Sri Lanka for that matter sit at a very key point on the map in terms of playing a role in boosting that resilience and that security of supply. So I think India's independence, its open market economy, pragmatic approach lends itself very well to be a key player in boosting the resilience of global supply chains.

I think it's obviously a risk that this could collapse over the term of this arrangement, based on history and based on the fact that you can never trust the Iranians to honor any promise they ever give. They're an apocalyptic regime that is not driven by the same rational considerations that freedom-loving open market economies are. And so I think the United States has done well to bring them to this point, but holding them at that point I think will continue to be a challenge. But I'm optimistic that the president will be able to achieve that.

Well, it is and it has been now for some time since Prime Minister Modi and I were able to reach agreement on the comprehensive strategic partnership and the many things that flowed from that, including the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, which was the first between our two countries. And that relationship has laid the platform for what we're now experiencing. We hit an all-time high in the relationship between India and Australia while I shared the role of Prime Minister with Prime Minister Modi in terms of our relationship, and I'm pleased to say it has remained in that space and I think a lot of good work has been done. I welcome the fact that Prime Minister Modi will soon be coming to Australia again. He'll get his usual rockstar hero's welcome here in Australia. He's incredibly popular amongst the diaspora. I think that's been one of the real standout features of Prime Minister Modi's leadership of India is that he has really reached out to the diaspora, and while they have chosen another place to call home, they remain connected to their ancestral home in India in a way that Prime Minister Modi has been able to really highlight for them. And I think that's been positive. So I'm looking forward to him coming. I think it's great that he is. We just continue to build on that platform, whether it's on trade, security, defense, the challenges around AI, how our economies can work together on industrialization, the Indo-Pacific, the Quad leaders dialogue, and the importance of investments in infrastructure, maritime domain surveillance, which was a key outcome of the recent foreign ministers meeting in New Delhi as part of the Quad. So there's no shortage of areas for us to progress, and I think India and Australia share a very unique perspective on the Indo-Pacific and the rest of the world, and I look forward to that continuing to be a positive force for our region.

Well, I just mentioned many of the things we were able to achieve, but I think it has been the insight of Prime Minister Modi. I mean, yes, we were able when I was prime minister to achieve an historic agreement and take a relationship to a new level, and that has continued. And the common denominator there has been Prime Minister Modi, and this remains a high priority for him, and I am grateful for that. I'm very pleased that he has maintained that keen focus. I mean, there are so many things for him to be engaged in, and the fact that he's put a priority on that Australia relationship means a great deal to us, and it enables us to do things together in the Indo-Pacific, to engage with our friends in Japan, the United States, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, other parts of the Indo-Pacific, ASEAN more broadly. I mean, the Indo-Pacific is the center of the world now, and I think the Australia-India partnership plays a key role in how the Indo-Pacific progresses from this point with the many other partners that I've said. So, it's been his vision, I'd say, around the relationship with Australia, but his vision for the Indo-Pacific and particularly the Quad and being a founding member along with myself and the other leaders at that time. And I continue to say it's been his leadership of the Global South. He's so conscious of the economic inclusion challenges in his own country that he can see the same challenges that other leaders face in other developing economies. And I think India under Prime Minister Modi's leadership is providing a positive economic model for them to follow, an alternative to the communist, illiberal, dictatorship model that seems so common in many other parts of the world. Prime Minister Modi is providing the positive alternative, the democracy alternative, the free markets alternative, and I think this is a positive thing which will be great for India and it'll be great for the Global South if they are to follow his lead.

I attended quite a few G7s at the invitation of the host, including in France as well as in the UK, and I appreciated the opportunity to provide input into all of those forums and was able to do so with Prime Minister Modi as well. I don't think there's a need to expand the G7 to be honest. I think the G7 is what it is and it should continue doing what it's doing. But I've always been a keen fan of a G7 Plus dialogue, which in the past has included Australia, India, South Korea, and South Africa on occasion. Whether that fits in the same way I'm not so sure, but I think certainly India, Australia, and South Korea are very positive additions to that group, particularly to focus on issues in the Indo-Pacific. Japan is already there of course as a member of the G7, and because of the importance of the Indo-Pacific, I think it's critical that they do have a track that understands how they engage with issues in our region, not just from an economic point of view but from a security point of view, from a resilience infrastructure point of view, and on key issues like artificial intelligence and how they're being managed. Because the unique thing about the Indo-Pacific, unlike where most of these economies that are part of the G7 come from, they are a mix of both developed and developing economies. And I think when you come to that question with that perspective, where you're trying to look for solutions that work in both types of economies, then that adds a whole new dimension to the discussion. Otherwise it's just basically a discussion between developed economies, and if you want to address particularly some global issues, you've got to understand how it's impacting the developing world.

It certainly has had its challenges, there's no doubt about that. And the US has been working to a reset on many things and that includes global trade. Now, I think you've got to start from the point that global trade has not been particularly balanced and particularly fair for quite a long time. So to pretend it was in some sort of idyllic state prior to what President Trump embarked on would be a bit of a nonsense. And they have sought to try and rebalance that. Now that has meant some challenging things for countries such as India and right throughout the Indo-Pacific, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, as well as developed countries like Japan and South Korea. I think the Indo-Pacific countries though have responded quite pragmatically, and I think that's to their credit, and have sought to work with the US. Who knows what these things will look like 10 years from now, 5 years from now, but certainly under this administration there is a need to come to a new set of arrangements. And particularly when the sort of third country sourcing has been not a positive influence, where China in particular has been using other countries as a backdoor to gain access to developed country markets, and the US has certainly called that out. In addition to that, Europe is discovering this as well, particularly in their auto sector. Whereas once upon a time European countries were very excited about how they were going to engage particularly with China, what they've learned is that can quickly turn into a one-sided deal. And this is where I think India has a big opportunity, a really big opportunity, because India does not engage in the sort of export-dominated output-generating economy that China does, which basically sees cheap goods dumped into developed country markets and undercuts their potential to maintain their own manufacturing and industrial sector. Now India is also at risk of that, as are many developing countries, and I think it's a very negative practice which China pursues. And so India I think has a real opportunity to take up the capacity and the demand that's there from like-minded countries in Europe and North America and Australia to be a real partner of choice.

Well, I won't comment specifically on that, but what I will say is that it's important that the United States and India have a very close relationship, and where there are issues that need to be raised, they can be raised in a friendly way but also in a very direct way. Recently the president beamed into a fairly big event at the US embassy in New Delhi. I was in New Delhi not long after that, and there was a very strong reception. So look, I think the relationship between Prime Minister Modi and President Trump is a resilient one. I think it's a candid one, and from the point of view of Prime Minister Modi, it's a strong one. One thing I always noticed about Prime Minister Modi, he was never shy about putting forward what his view was in a respectful way, and he had a very keen sense of the primacy of India's national interest with anyone he dealt with. I certainly got the impression, I certainly understood it, that he had his own national interests that he had to pursue and he had to give them priority just like any other leader would with their own country. So I'm quite certain that Prime Minister Modi is able to address those and many other issues within the relationship that he has with the president.