India Australia relations

Recently, Australian PM Anthony Albanese’s visited India to further strengthen India-Australia relations. 

What are the major areas of Cooperation?

• India and Australia share warm and friendly relations based on common values and democratic principles. The Strategic Partnership between the two countries was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in June 2020.
• Economic: 
• India and Australia signed concrete Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) to strengthen their economic ties 
• In 2018, Australia announced implementation of “An India Economic Strategy to 2035”.  
• Defence ties: Australia participated in Malabar? exercise along with India, japan and USA. 
• AUSINDEX-naval engagement between India and Australia.
• Education: Australia also has a strong fit with the Indian effort to modernise its higher education sector under the New Education Policy. 
• Australia is now set to open two universities in Gujarat’s GIFT city. 
• Diaspora:
• Indian's emerged as one of the Australian's largest community. It is largest diaspora to acquire citizenship?
•  Nearly 60,000 Indians are studying in Australia at the end of 2022.
• Technology: Australia-India Technology Framework agreement on cyber and cyber-enabled technology was signed between both the countries. 
• Critical minerals: Both India and Australia cooperates in mining and rare earth minerals. Australia is the major supplier of critical minerals.   
• Converging interest: Both India and Australia are concerned about the aggressive rise of China. Therefore, both the countries have signed the Mutual logistic support agreement.   
• International fora:   Commonwealth, Quad, G20, IORA. 
• Both have shared interests in vision of a free, open, inclusive and rules-based Indo-Pacific region. Both are part of QUAD, and also proposed Supply Chain Resilience Initiative.
• An Australia-India Strategic Research Fund was established in 2006 for scientists to collaborate on leading-edge research. 

What are the persistent between India and Australia?

• India opted out from Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). 
• Among other things, India and Australia could not agree regarding market access over agriculture and dairy products.  
• Differences over china: Australia’s economy is heavily dependent on China, with China being Australia's largest trading partner, accounting for 26 % of its trade with the world. 
• • Also, Australian concerns have to do with China’s increased activities in the Pacific; while India is concerned about China’s greater presence and influence in the Indian Ocean
• Nuclear Mineral resources: Australia is one of the world's largest exporters of uranium ore, but exports to India were banned because the country is not party to the NPT.

Way forward:

• Both nations reassure neighbouring states, particularly those in South East Asia, that the Indo-Pacific region's public goods are the Quad's primary goal rather than containing China.
• Modi’s emphasis on a “multipolar Indo-Pacific” and Albanese’s focus on “strategic equilibrium” provide the basis for a productive Indian and Australian regional engagement.
• The political coordination and strategic cooperation between Delhi and Canberra in the numerous sub-regions, such as the southern ocean, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, eastern Indian Ocean, and South Pacific, also needs to be improved.