Australian PM Anthony Albanese to arrive in Ahmedabad tomorrow

This is the first bilateral visit by an Australian PM to India since the Labour Party government was sworn-in in May 2022. During the visit, the first in-person India-Australia Annual Summit will be held.

The last visit by an Australian PM (Malcolm Turnbull) was in 2017.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had paid his first official visit to Australia for the G20 Leaders’ Summit in 2014 followed by a bilateral visit during which he addressed a joint sitting of the Parliament of Australia (the first by an Indian PM).

Senator Don Farrell, Minister for Trade and Tourism, and Madeleine King MP, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, will be amongst 27 people who are set to be part of the Australian delegation.

Ahead of his visit, PM Albanese said Tuesday that Australia is seeking to “deepen and diversify” its trade links with India.

"By any measure, Australia is a better place because of our large, diverse and aspirational Indian-Australian community – the fastest growing group in Australia," Albanese said at a speech during the 2023 Business Summit on Tuesday.

"In 2021-22, India was only Australia’s sixth largest goods and services trading partner … we can elevate that.

"Our government is seeking to deepen and diversify Australia’s trade links, greater diversity in who we trade with and greater variety in what we trade."

Albanese said this would mean the Australian economy would be “more resilient and more secure” with “one in four” Australian jobs relying on international trade as he expressed his determination to create more jobs in the export industry for the global expansion of Australian companies, a media report said.

The two Prime Ministers have met thrice on the sidelines of multilateral meetings last year: at the Quad Leaders’ Summit in Tokyo (May 2022); At the G-20 Summit in Bali (November 2022); and a Short interaction at the State Funeral of former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe in Tokyo (September 2022).

The first Virtual Summit between the two sides was held in June 2020 when the bilateral relationship was upgraded to “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”.

During second Virtual Summit, some key announcements included Letter of Intent on Migration and Mobility Partnership Arrangement to foster exchange of skills and Letter of Arrangement for Educational Qualifications Recognition to facilitate mobility of students and professionals, General Rawat India-Australia Young Defence Officers’ Exchange Programme, MoU for Co-Investment in Critical Minerals Projects in Australia etc.

The visit comes after a series of high-level engagements and exchange of Ministerial visits between two sides in 2022 and in 2023.

Recent engagements being EAM S Jaishankar’s visit to Australia on February 18, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s visit to India from February 28 to March 3, visit of Australian Education Minister Jason Clare to India on Feb 28 – March 3.

In the field of economic cooperation, the India-Australia bilateral economic relations are growing. The Economic Cooperation Trade Agreement (ECTA) has entered into force from December 2022. 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.

The bilateral trade was USD 27.5 billion in 2021. Australia is the 17th largest trading partner of India and India is Australia’s 9th largest trading partner. With ECTA, there is potential for bilateral trade to reach around US$ 50 billion in five years. Indian Yoga teachers and Chefs will gain with an annual quota. There has been a resolution of Double Taxation of Indian IT companies which will save them over US$ 200 mn per year.

In the field of People-to-People Ties, India is 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. To celebrate India@75, the Australian Government illuminated more than 40 monuments/buildings across Australia, including iconic Sydney Opera House. PM Albanese issued a personal video message on the 75th Anniversary of Independence.

In the field of Education, the two sides inked the Mechanism for Mutual Recognition of Educational Qualifications (MREQ) 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. There are more than 1 lakh Indian students pursuing various higher education courses in universities across Australia, making Indian students the second largest cohort of foreign students in Australia.

In the sphere of Defence cooperation, bilateral defence cooperation is expanding. The 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue was held in September 2021.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Australia visited India in June 2022. There is active engagement between tri-services. Arrangement concerning Mutual Logistics Support (MLSA) was concluded during the Virtual Summit (June 2020). AUSTRAHIND, Army exercise, was held in November 2022. Indian Air Force participated in Exercise PITCH BLACK in September 2022. INS Satpura participated in the multinational Exercise KAKADU in September 2022.

In Clean Energy too, India and Australia are keen to cooperate 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 ultralow-cost solar and clean hydrogen.

During the Virtual Summit in March 2022, India announced matching funds of AUD 10 million for Pacific Island Countries under Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS) and of AUD 10 million for Pacific Island Countries under International Solar Alliance (ISA).

In the Multilateral sphere, India and Australia co-operate in various multilateral fora. Australia supports India’s candidature in an expanded UN Security Council. Both India and Australia 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 Australian PM will visit Mumbai on March 9 for a business event, and be in New Delhi on Friday for the official talks with PM Modi.

The State Visit of Australian PM Albanese will further boost the existing level of high momentum in bilateral engagements.