Australia’s relationship with India will grow even closer after the government revealed it would begin planning a new economic strategy for the two nations.

Speaking at the launch of a new Sydney headquarters for the Centre for Australia-India Relations, Trade Minister Don Farrell and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong announced the government would begin consultations on a bilateral roadmap.

The plan will build on the government’s 2018 India Economic Strategy and help grow future trade and investment efforts while exploring new areas for co-operation.

“We cannot talk about the future of the Australian economy without talking about India,” Senator Farrell said.

“We think a new roadmap will help us go even further in our trade and investment relationship with India, and help us seize the opportunities of the net-zero transition.”

In its federal budget delivered on Tuesday, the government also committed $14 million to expand the Australia India Business Exchange, which will help Australian businesses expand into the South Asian nation.

“Australia and India share this region and we share a future,” Senator Wong said during her speech.

“We are working together to shape the region that we want – a region in which sovereignty is respected and one in which no country dominates or is dominated.”

The Indian-Australian community is Australia’s fastest growing diaspora and the second-largest in the nation with one in every 25 Australians claiming Indian heritage.

This comes as the party of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears poised to win a rare third term in office.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with his Indian counterpart when he arrived in Australia in mid-2023.

Kat Wong
(Australian Associated Press)