PM’S VISIT TO AUSTRALIA: INDIA’S AUSTRALIA TIES BAS ON MUTUAL TRUST & RESPECT.

PM’S VISIT TO AUSTRALIA: INDIA’S AUSTRALIA TIES BAS ON MUTUAL TRUST & RESPECT.

HISTORY OF OUR TIES:

India and Australia established diplomatic relations in the pre-Independence period, with the establishment of India Trade Office in Sydney in 1941.

DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS OF OUR RELATIONSHIP:

• STRATEGIC RELATIONS:
  • In 2009, we established a strategic relationship which was upgraded to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) in 2020.
  • The Australian foreign policy blueprint released in November 2017 sees India in the front rank of Australia’s international partnerships.
  • In order to pursue the CSP, Foreign and Defence Ministers of both countries agreed to meet in a ‘2+2’ format biennially.

                   2+2 Dialogue 2 ministers i.e. Defence & Foreign ministers of both the countries meet biennially.

• ECONOMIC & TRADE RELATIONSHIP
  • BILATERAL TRADE: The annual bilateral trade stands at around 25 billion USD. (Imports: 19 bn USD & Exports: 6.25 bn USD)
  • India is Australia’s largest export market for gold and chickpeas, the second-largest market for coal and copper ores and the third-largest market for lead and wool.
  • Key products of imports from Australia include coal, copper ores and concentrates and petroleum.
  • In April 2022, India and Australia signed an Economic Co-operation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which came into force in December 2022.
    • ETCA aims to double the bilateral trade to $50 billion in five years and ease movement of people, goods and services across borders.
  • Defence Cooperation
  • During PM Modi’s visit to Australia in November 2014, both sides decided to extend defence cooperation to cover research, development and industry engagement.
  • Arrangement concerning Mutual Logistics Support (MLSA) and Implementing Arrangement concerning cooperation in Defence Science and Technology were concluded during the Virtual Summit held in June 2020.
  • India and Australia conduct their bilateral naval exercise ‘AUSINDEX’ since 2015.
    • In 2018, Indian Air Force participated for the first time in the Exercise Pitch Black in Australia.
    • In October-November 2020, the Australian Navy participated in Malabar Exercises.

Indian Diaspora in Australia

• The Indian community in Australia continues to grow in size and importance, with the population of about seven hundred thousand.
• India is one of the top sources of skilled immigrants to Australia.
• The number of Indian students continues to grow with approximately 105,000 students presently studying in Australian universities.
• After England, India is the second largest migrant group in Australia in 2020.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE VISIT

• New Indian consulate announced
  • PM Modi announced that a new Indian consulate would soon open in Brisbane.
• PM talks about 3 C’s, 3 D’s, 3 E’s
  • Addressing the Indian diaspora, PM Modi said, “Earlier, it was said that the relations between India and Australia is defined by 3 Cs – commonwealth, cricket, and curry.
  • Then it was said that our relationship is defined by 3 D’s – democracy, diaspora, and dosti.
  • Some people also said that our relationship is based on 3 E’s – energy, economy, and education.
  • But our historic ties are much bigger than that. They are based on mutual trust and mutual respect.
• Renaming of the Sydney suburb
  • PM Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese renamed the Sydney suburb as ‘Little India’.
    • For this, PM Modi joined his Australian counterpart for the foundation stone laying ceremony of ‘Little India’ Gateway.
    • The Gateway is to be built in Harris Park, Parramatta, Sydney, inhabited by a large Indian community.
    • Harris Park is a hub in Western Sydney where the Indian community celebrates festivals and events such as Diwali and Australia Day.
  • PM Modi highlighted India’s position in the world as the force of global good
    • PM Modi said India is always ready to help others whenever there is a disaster.
    • He also hailed India as the mother of democracy, as well as a bright spot in the global economy.