Albanese bolsters India ties with bilateral higher education agreement

China has objected to the Malabar exercises in previous years.

The flow of Indian students to Australia is also fundamental to the relationship between the two countries and accounts for exports worth $4.2 billion a year, according to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Albanese told university officials in Ahmedabad on Wednesday night the Australia–India Education Qualifications Recognition Mechanism would help students in both countries.

“This new mechanism means that if you’re an Indian student who’s studying – or about to study – in Australia, your hard-earned degree will be recognised when you return home.

“Or if you’re a member of Australia’s large Indian diaspora, you’ll be able to feel more confident that your Indian qualifications will be recognised in Australia.

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“It is the most comprehensive and ambitious arrangement agreed to by India with any country,” Albanese said.

“It paves the way for commercial opportunities for Australian education providers to offer innovative and more accessible education to Indian students.”

Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said more than 1.5 million Indians had gained Australian university degrees since 2005.

“We can build on this for the benefit of both nations,” she said in Ahmedabad.

About 130,000 students from India are studying in Australia, according to Universities Australia, and the total has recovered to the level it reached before the pandemic.

There is no public target for the intake over the next few years but the University of Melbourne is expanding its “blended” degrees with Indian counterparts and other Australian universities are also investing in India.

Deakin University is opening a campus in Gujarat to teach cybersecurity and business analytics, the first Australian university to open a branch of this kind in India.

The University of Wollongong is also planning to open a campus in the same area, known as the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City outside Ahmedabad.

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“We always welcome students to come and study in Australia, and that will continue to be an important focus for us,” Albanese said in his speech.

“But not everyone has the means or the ability to pack up their lives and study in another country.

“There might be financial constraints, or family commitments, or a variety of reasons that you want to, or need to, stay closer to home.

“So the presence of Australian universities in India opens up new ways for Indian students to obtain an Australian education by bringing Australia a little bit closer.”

Albanese is expected to emphasise the defence relationship by visiting an Indian aircraft carrier, the INS Vikrant, after travelling to Mumbai on Thursday afternoon.

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