Australia also desires to be India’s primary agribusiness partner, a key supplier of agricultural commodities and partner in technical knowledge, pursuing greater market access as a first order priority. With resources remaining central to the economic relationship, the Morrison government will work with industry to maintain its position as a reliable and competitive supplier of minerals and mining equipment, technology and services, simultaneously facilitating partnerships in critical minerals. Energy is another priority sector, considering that India is the world’s fastest growing energy market. Cooperation has been envisaged on cutting edge technologies, especially renewables and hydrogen.

There is also the prospect of deepening cooperation on critical and emerging technologies, for instance, space technologies that will yield commercial and strategic dividends, and defence, where Australian defence firms will be offered niche opportunities in India. The health sector too is highly prospective, with COVID−19 having driven the uptake of digital health services in India, supercharged a focus on manufacturing medical devices and pharmaceuticals, and reinforced India’s importance in global supply chains, including for vaccines. India’s bid to become Asia’s top fintech hub will present further opportunities for Australian business.

Australia and India’s shared passion for sport and their burgeoning ties in the cultural and creative industries will also be leveraged for community and commercial benefits. Across all sectors, the deep bilateral people-to-people links are envisaged to drive economic engagement.

Abizer Merchant, a Monash University alumnus who is now the Mumbai-based Director (India & Sri Lanka) for Sydney’s Macquarie University, says Australia has always been a select destination for Indian students for higher studies. He mentions the IITB-Monash Research Academy, the “exciting partnership” between Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) and Monash University, Australia’s largest university.

Located at the IITB campus at Powai, this independent, autonomous, not-for-profit joint venture research academy, which was established in 2008, offers an innovative PhD programme where graduate students from India work with both IITB and Monash academics, as well as industry partners. Spending at least one year in Australia, students graduate with a joint PhD degree from IITB and Monash University, ensuring a truly global experience that sets them up for future career success. The Academy has close to 200 PhD students, 400 researchers and 400 research projects to date.

The strength of the bilateral partnership is expected to transcend any change in government in Australia, with Morrison having called for federal elections on 21 May, where his centre-right coalition faces a daunting challenge from the opposition Labour Party, led by Anthony Albanese. Morrison is nevertheless the most successful Australian prime minister in years, being the first to survive in office from one election to the next since 2007. And his party had won the last election in 2018, despite most polls predicting otherwise.

 ‘A watershed for partnership’ 

The new commitments and practical initiatives announced by both our governments to grow our economic, trade and investment ties are a veritable watershed for our deepening partnership.

While Prime Ministers Scott Morrison and Narendra Modi have reaffirmed their commitment to drive our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to new heights, the Economic Strategy Update on the report, India Economic Strategy to 2035: Navigating from Potential to Delivery, draws on consultations with over 600 business and community stakeholders across Australia and India to set a basis for new investment.

To implement the plan, Australia is investing over $280 million, that is, Rs1,500 crore, towards new programmes and initiatives across technology, space, critical minerals, strategic research and people-to-people links to boost cooperation with India. This is the largest ever single boost to bilateral ties by an Australian government.

The Update also recognises the evolving challenges and opportunities for both countries, taking into account the transformed global environment, including the lessons learned during Covid-19, India’s economic reform agenda and our joint progress under our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

India and Australia have complementary economies, and our partnership is vital as we both strive for stronger, sustainable economic growth, and more secure and diversified trade and supply chains. As democracies, we know a strong economy underpins our future and the living standards and opportunities available to our citizens.

The Update lays out a practical plan for future economic integration between Australia and India and also acts as a marker of our recent progress, apart from reaffirming support for Australia’s traditional strengths in education, resources, agribusiness, tourism and information technology that will remain central to our economic ties with India. Additionally, it gives an impetus to investment and cooperation in emerging and strategic sectors, such as low emission technologies, cyber and critical technologies, innovation and space.

The new initiatives contained within the Update cover the breadth of our shared priorities, namely, expansion of our diplomatic presence across India, establishment of a joint Centre of Excellence for Critical and Emerging Technology Policy, commitment by Australia to build out cooperation in space, investment boost for the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund, support for increased research, production and commercialisation of renewable energy technologies, and front-row access for Indian investment in Australian lithium and cobalt.

The Australian government will besides be investing in a new Centre for Australia-India Relations to propel and strengthen our community, institutional and business ties. The Centre will administer a suite of scholarships and fellowships, which are designed to be as generous and high-profile as the Rhodes or Fulbright programmes, but offered exclusively to Indian citizens by the Australian government.

Maharashtra and Mumbai will, of course, be central to the success of this action plan. The state has consistently made up the lion’s share of India’s total FDI inflows, and in 2020-21 ranked second among all Indian states in attracting investment. It has world class education and research institutions in Pune, a vibrant arts scene, as well as infrastructure being developed at a rapid pace across Mumbai.

Despite all the progress in our economic relationship, we are clearly not resting on our laurels. The fundamentals are solid, and adapting them remains a work in progress. While we continue to make inroads, there remains an ocean of opportunity yet to be explored and developed.

Australia knows that in India we have a trusted, natural partner. Our diplomatic and trade network across the country, propelled by the Update, will continue working to ensure that India too, sees a similar friend in Australia.