India Country Strategy - A Promising Engagement Between Australia And India

26 Aug 2013

Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia has outlined the country’s blueprint for future engagement with India. He quoted to Xinhua that perhaps Australia's relationship with India has the highest potential to grow out of all of the country’s significant bilateral relationships in Asia.

India is the 4th largest migrant community in Australia with 450,000 people of Indian descent staying in Australia. Kevin Rudd said that there is no greater symbol of the ties they share with India than the successes and contribution of the Indian Diaspora who have made Australia home.

With the current population of 1.2 billion, India is expected to take over China as the world's most populous nation by the year 2028. The India Country Strategy that was launched on 24th August, 2013, outlines a vision of where Australia's relationship with India should be in the year 2025 across government, business and community.

The strategy outlines a plan for increasing cultural understanding by rising fluency of Hindi in Australian schools and working with the significant Indian community in Australia. With India becoming one of Australia's top 5 trading partners, by 2025, the India Country strategy's aim is to achieve a threefold increase of two-way trade.

Currently, with bilateral trade worth 17.5 billion AU dollars ($15.79 billion), India is Australia's 10th largest trading partner. For Australian exporters, India's growing middle class which is estimated to reach 606 million by 2030, is creating new opportunities.

In 2009, the bilateral relationship between Australia and India is elevated to Strategic Partnership by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Since then, Australia and India have exchanged over 50 high-level visits with leaders now meeting annually.

Australia will continue to strengthen government dialogue, under the India Country Strategy by including in forums such as the East Asia Summit and the G20, and building a more comprehensive security and defense relationship.

According to Australia in the Asian Century White Paper, covering Australia's five major relationships in Asia, 5 country strategies will be released. Earlier in July, Kevin Rudd released the Indonesia Country Strategy when he visited Jakarta. The remaining three Asian countries, covering China, Japan and South Korea, will be released in the coming months.

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