Australia wants India to be its 'Best partner in business'

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Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has said that her country was seeking to elevate its status with India.

Melbourne: Describing India as “natural partner”, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has said that her country was seeking to elevate its status with India to ‘Best partner in business from business partners.

“Australia and India are most certainly ‘Partners in Business’ but also natural partners across the board. The Coalition Government is seeking to elevate Australia to the status of India’s ‘best partner in business’,” Bishop told a gathering of high-profile business leaders and attendees at Australia India Business Council (AIBC) in Sydney recently.

“Sure, we have a healthy trade relationship, two-way trade was valued at more than 15 billion dollars last year, but we can do better than that. At the end of last year, Indian investment in Australia was about 11 billion dollars but this Government is determined to make it easier for India to investors to invest in this country”, she said.

Lauding the AIBC for its commitment to forge and foster ties between the two sides, Bishop said: “one of the common refrains about the bilateral relationship is that it is one of great potential but never quite realized”.

However, she said the relationship was now on the move with the two new governments committed to economic reform and open for business.

Bishop said that Australian government was looking forward to the two major meetings between the two Prime Ministers, Tony Abbot and Narendra Modi, later this year.

Abbott is said to visit India next month while Modi is expected to attend G20 meet this November in Brisbane.

“We’re going to see our two action men, our two action Prime Ministers together on the world stage very shortly. They both have ambitious infrastructure agendas and with so much in common between our two leaders, we recognise the opportunity to broaden and deepen what is a strong relationship but could be far stronger," Bishop said.

“While Australia has traditionally defined our place in the world as the Asia Pacific, this Government now looks west to encompass India as a crucial part of our region”, she said.

Bishop is set to visit India to attend the next Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue later this year.

"These high-level contacts and visits just underscores that we recognise that India is not only our neighbour, a major trading partner, a key strategic ally but a friend," Bishop said.

"Australia and India already have a solid base of trust and mutual respect from which we can take this relationship to greater heights. We already work together in the G20, the East Asia Summit and we are the troika along with Indonesia of the Indian Ocean Rim Association.

"We are negotiating a closer Economic Partnership Agreement. We hope to conclude a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement to supply Australian uranium for India's energy needs. We have closer defence and military co-operation."

She also elaborated on the large presence of Indian diaspora in Australia and said while nearly half a million Australians were of Indian origin and some 10,000 Australians called India home, India was the largest source of skilled migrants.

She said the government's new signature initiative - The New Colombo Plan - is expected to see young Australia to engage with India.

Australia wants India to be its 'Best partner in business' - Financial Express

 

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Tony Abbott to visit India next week; uranium deal tops agenda

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott will undertake his first visit to India next week to further strengthen the strategic partnership and promote trade and investment between the two countries, which are also likely to ink the much-awaited uranium deal.

“I will travel to India and Malaysia from September 4 to 6. On my first visit to India as Prime Minister, I will visit New Delhi and India’s financial capital, Mumbai, to strengthen the strategic partnership between our two countries,” he said.

Noting that the two nations have strong and growing economic and trade ties, he said India is Australia’s fifth largest export market with total exports of USD 11.4 billion.

“There is potential for further cooperation in resources, science, technology and education,” Abbott said.

“My visit will be an opportunity to engage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi early in the term of his government to increase bilateral cooperation to advance our mutual interests,” he added.

Abbott is also expected to meet other senior political leaders, including President Pranab Mukherjee.

Speculation is high that Abbott’s visit to India would see the two nations sign the much-awaited uranium deal.

Earlier this month, media reports here said the deal on the much awaited civil nuclear agreement will be formally signed by Prime Minister Abbott during his visit in September.

The negotiations between the two sides have been on since 2012 after Labor party reversed its decision to ban the uranium sale to India because New Delhi has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Australia holds about a third of the world’s recoverable uranium resources, and exports nearly 7,000 tonnes a year.

Energy-starved India is looking to nuclear power to supplement its existing options to fuel economic growth.

The visit is also an opportunity to promote trade and investment and promote our G20 objectives ahead of the Brisbane summit in November, Abbott said.

“I will be accompanied on my visit to India by a group of senior business leaders. The delegation reflects the breadth of Australian commercial interests in India and showcases opportunities for further business partnerships,” he added.

Tony Abbott to visit India next week; uranium deal tops agenda | The Indian Express

 

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I hope that the uranium deal will be signed during his trip.

 

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I hope that the uranium deal will be signed during his trip.

Most likely, I am waiting for Indo-Japan to finalize it as well.