Global Eye | Australian Envoy Philip Green outlines priorities for deepening India-Australia relations

In a recent interview with CNBC-TV18, Australian Envoy to India, Philip Green, laid out the key priorities for deepening the bilateral relationship between India and Australia. Green highlighted the significance of the strategic alignment, economic complementarity, and the human bridge that underpins the strong ties between the two nations.

"Every global economy interested in engaging with India," Green emphasised, pointing out the growing interest worldwide in collaborating with India, owing to its massive and rapidly growing economy. He noted that Australia holds a unique position in this engagement due to its abundant reserves of minerals, metals, critical minerals, and energy resources, which can significantly contribute to driving India's economic growth.

Green revealed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed a strong desire for the India-Australia bilateral relationship to progress at an accelerated pace. "The Prime Minister said to me, before I came here, that what he wanted was for this bilateral relationship – which is already on a high – to be moved as far and as fast ahead as it possibly could," Green stated.

One of the critical factors driving this relationship is the high level of strategic alignment between Australia and India. Both countries are deeply focused on the Indo-Pacific region, collaborating to address common challenges and harness opportunities in ways they have not done before.

"The second thing is economic complementarity. This is a massive economy, which is growing very fast, and every global economy in the world will be interested in engaging with it," Green explained. He emphasized Australia's role in providing essential resources to fuel India's economic engine, coupled with educational institutions ready to contribute to India's skills future.

The third pillar of the bilateral relationship, according to Green, is the ‘human bridge’ – the nearly one million people of Indian origin who now call Australia home. These individuals are making significant contributions to Australian society, and there is a shared goal to enhance their role in strengthening the bilateral ties between the two nations.