The Liberal Party leader also called on Delhi to play its role as one of the world’s new superpowers and as a ‘democratic counterweight’ to China in the Asia-Pacific region.
The 21st century belongs to India, and the Prime Minister of the country – whoever that might be four or five decades down the line – could take the mantle of ‘the leader of the free world’ from the President of the United States, former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Friday at the NDTV World Summit 2025.
He also called on Delhi to play its role as one of the world’s new superpowers and as a ‘democratic counterweight’ to China in the Asia-Pacific region and a ‘strong, reliable partner’ for Australia.
Trade deals, such as the one India signed with Australia in 2022 and with the United Kingdom last month are signs the democratic world is shifting from China, he said.
In a hard-hitting interaction Friday, Abbott offered an overview of India’s ties with China, Pakistan, and the US, and said Delhi holds the key to check Beijing’s ambitions to ‘dominate the world’. “They want to be hegemonic power… and this spells trouble for all of China’s neighbours, as well as the world.”
‘India’s 3 advantages over China’
“India is a counterweight to China. It is now the most populous country. You go to any Indian city… there is massive infrastructure push – new airports, etc. India is rising and can be a substitute to China.”
“The 21st century belongs to India just as it belongs to China,” he said.
And India has three big advantages – democracy, the rule of law, and the English language – as it preps for the economic and military ‘take-off’ China accomplished a few decades ago, he said.
“As PM, I used to say India will emerge as a democratic superpower. Well, now that has happened. The PM of India is likely to be the leader of a free world in the next 40-50 years…”
The Taiwan problem
Expanding on the threat posed by China, Abbot offered Taiwan as a potential first test, warning all democratic nations, including his own, not to tak the former’s aggressive posturing lightly.
“The best way to ensure nothing untoward happens is not to pretend that China has peaceful intentions… it is to be prepared (and) to let China know, every day, that it cannot get away with these incursions… weakness is provocative,” the former Prime Minister said.
“If China are to be made to fear that attempts to seize Taiwan will fail… I think all these need to be real prospects,” he said, “It is possible to defend Taiwan. The danger is escalation.”
“We saw that in the Korean War. And we have to hope and pray it doesn’t escalate.”
On the war in Ukraine
To underline the importance of a united front against China and its ‘world domination’ dreams, Abbott indicated the war in Ukraine would likely not have happened had that country been a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, and been protected by the military might of the US and Europe.
“The Ukrainians have been absolutely heroic. I wish democracies in the world had done more for them… If Ukraine was part of NATO, there would have been no Russian incursion,” he said.