In the first bilateral visit by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to India since he entered office in May last year, New Delhi and Canberra are looking to expand cooperation in defence, clean energy, education and economic spheres. Albanese’s visit comes days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to India last week, and 10 days before Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit between March 19 and 21. Put together, this marks the visits by all the Quad member countries to India, days after the Foreign Ministers of the Quad grouping met in New Delhi last week. While the visit by Albanese began with cricket diplomacy in Ahmedabad Thursday, officials said Australia will host military operations with India, Japan and the US in the ‘Malabar’ exercises off the coast of Perth in August. Australia has also invited India to join the Talisman Sabre exercises later this year, a major operation for the Australian Defence Force. Albanese visited INS Vikrant as well Thursday. “For Australia, India is a top-tier security partner. The Indian Ocean is central to both countries’ security and prosperity. And there has never been a point in both our country’s histories where we have had such a strong strategic alignment. We both depend on free and open access to sea lanes in the Indo-Pacific for our trade and economic well-being,” he said on board INS Vikrant. “And we share an unwavering commitment to upholding the rules-based international order and ensuring the Indo-Pacific is open, inclusive and prosperous,” he said. Albanese will be holding bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi Friday. As part of General Rawat Australia-India Young Defence Officers’ Exchange Programme, instituted in honour of India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, a 15-member Australian contingent, including four women officers from the Royal Australian Navy, Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force, visited the Agra-based Shatrujeet Brigade along with 15 selected Indian officers from the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force Thursday. The Indian and Australian officers were taken through a series of training demonstrations related to fighting in built-up areas by paratroopers of the elite formation during the visit. The two sides will also take stock of the implementation of the Economic Cooperation Trade Agreement (ECTA), which entered into force December 2022. Since it is the 1st FTA signed by India with any developed country in a decade, ECTA has resulted in immediate reduction of duty to zero on 96% of Indian exports to Australia in value (that is 98% of the tariff lines) and zero duty on 85% of Australia’s exports (in value) to India. Bilateral trade was USD 27.5 billion in 2021. With ECTA, there is potential for bilateral trade to reach around US$ 50 billion in five years. Officials said Indian yoga teachers and chefs stand to gain from an annual quota, and there has been a resolution of double taxation of Indian IT companies which will save them over US$ 200 million (over Rs 1,600 crore) per year. Officials said India and Australia are keen to cooperate in the field of clean energy and have taken several initiatives on the matter. India and Australia have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) on new and renewable energy in February 2022 which provides for cooperation towards bringing down the cost of renewable energy (RE) technologies, especially ultra low-cost solar and clean hydrogen. During the Virtual Summit in March 2022, India had announced matching funds of AUD 10 million for Pacific Island Countries under the Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS) and of AUD 10 million for Pacific Island Countries under the International Solar Alliance (ISA). The two sides will also take stock of the progress. Being one of the top sources of skilled immigrants to Australia, the Indian community in Australia continues to grow in size and importance. As per the 2021 Census, around 9,76,000 people in Australia trace their ancestry as Indian origin, making them the second largest group of overseas born residents in Australia. In the field of education, a Mechanism for Mutual Recognition of Educational Qualifications (MREQ) was signed on March 2. This will facilitate mobility of students between India and Australia. Deakin University and University of Wollongong are planning to open campuses in India. Besides bilateral engagements, what is significant is that India and Australia co-operate in various multilateral fora. Officials said that Australia supports India’s candidature in an expanded UN Security Council, and the two countries are members of the Commonwealth, IORA, ASEAN Regional Forum, International Solar Alliance, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and have participated in the East Asia Summits. “Australia and India are working together on various forums, including QUAD, Supply Chain Resilience Initiative. Australia has expressed strong support for India’s G20 Presidency… The State Visit of Australian PM Albanese will further boost the existing level of high momentum in bilateral engagements,” a source said.
