Aus,India to hold annual ministerial meet on education

“I actually was able to strike a positive agreement with the Indian Government that we will have a annual ministerial dialogue on education,including in that dialogue representatives of our universities and our business community and representatives of the Indian universities and Indian business community,” she said.

“It is a big opportunity for us in circumstances where India has a huge thirst to grow its education system and in part is contemplating that growth being through foreign providers like Australian providers going to India and setting up shop,so a big opportunity for us there,” Gillard said.

The Deputy Prime Minister said during her India visit,she reassured Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and HRD Minister Kapil Sibal that Australia was a safe place for Indian students.

“They accepted as representatives of the Indian Government that Australia had appropriately responded to support Indian students when they’re in this country and we do welcome around 100,000 Indian students each year,” she told ABC radio.

“If there are opportunities for our education providers to build on the collaborations they already have with Indian universities and provide education in India,then that is clearly a big opportunity for us,not only in the sense of earning export dollars but in the sense of giving people an exposure to Australians,to Australian ways of doing things,to Australian perspectives,” Gillard said.

More than 20 Indian students in Australia were racially attacked in a span of three months in various cities.

Gillard said India was an emerging superpower and Australia wants to forge a strategic partnership with New Delhi to cooperate right from defence to foreign affairs to economic issues.

“India is an emerging superpower in our region. We want to enter a strategic partnership with them to cooperate right across the broad field of defence and foreign affairs and economic issues and Prime Minister (Kevin Rudd) will be having discussions about that strategic partnership when he goes later this year,” she said.

On a query if exporting education to India and setting up campuses would translate into fewer Indian students coming Down Under,she said: “I suspect we’ll always see a mix of both. There are always reasons why people want to come and study abroad.”