During his visit to Australia in May 2023, when the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and Australia was almost three years old, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had characterised India-Australia ties as having entered T-20 mode. He also stressed that the relationship had gone beyond the conventional three Cs — of Commonwealth, Cricket and Curry — and the subsequent three Ds — Democracy, Diaspora and Dosti. As Mr. Modi undertakes his third visit to Australia this week, it would be instructive to look at some of the recent progress in two other important dimensions, the Ds of Development and Defence.
Growing bilateral economic cooperation has brought dividends like never before for both countries. All Indian exports to Australia now have duty free access under the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), benefitting textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, engineering goods, gems and jewellery. Preferential access to 90% of Australia’s trade value has facilitated Australian exports of critical minerals, resources, wool, avocados, and macadamia. There is the shared ambition to raise bilateral trade from $33 billion in 2025 towards $100 bn by 2030.
The two-way cumulative investment is approaching $50 billion. Australia’s AirTrunk recently announced plans to invest $30 billion by 2030 to develop digital infrastructure and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-ready data centre. Australian funds are increasingly active in India. At the same time, India is an important source of investment and technology. Indian investment in Australia’s resources sector is well known. According to reports, Perdaman Chemicals & Fertilizers, founded by an Indian, is establishing Australia’s largest urea plant in western Australia, with $4.5 billion. This largest ever investment in Australia’s fertilizer industry has also created millions of man hours of work in India where over 98% of the plant’s modules are manufactured.
Defence represents perhaps the fastest growing sector of bilateral cooperation. In a clear signal of the importance of India as a reliable partner, Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles visited India in his first foreign tours in both the terms of the Albanese government. Before his most recent visit for the Annual Defence Ministers’ Dialogue last month, Mr. Marles had hosted Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Australia last year, marking the first visit by an Indian Defence Minister to the country in 12 years. Regular leadership and other senior level exchanges involving all the three Services and participation in bilateral and multilateral military exercises such as AUSINDEX, Malabar and Talisman Sabre foster operational understanding and coordination, significant especially in the maritime domain.
There are growing opportunities for defence industry cooperation in cyber, AI, drone, and in view of India’s expanding ship-building capabilities.
Beyond the Cs and the Ds, there are also enriching Es: Energy and Education. India-Australia Renewable Energy Partnership is implemented through a Solar Taskforce and a Green Hydrogen Task Force, and guided at the ministerial level.
India’s unprecedented renewable energy targets present immense potential for clean energy cooperation across critical minerals and materials, manufacturing, laboratory research, commercial-scale deployment, industrial use, and solar rooftops.
Very recently, Australian media mentioned that arrangements for future Australian uranium exports to India might be finalised shortly. Were that to happen, India’s ambitious civil nuclear programme will receive a significant boost, as would Australia’s uranium exports.
The India-Australia education and skills partnership is steadily contributing to creation of an enduring base for future-ready youth, innovators and entrepreneurs. While more than one lakh Indian students are enrolled in Australia, world class and affordable education is now available in India itself through Indian campuses of a growing number of Australian universities. Joint research in priority areas such as advanced computing, energy, health care, space and defence promises to create both intellectual assets and networks. Specific visa programmes have created new avenues for educated Indian youth seeking employment opportunities in Australia and await better utilisation.
Australia’s global leadership in imparting vocational skills is being tapped in areas such as solar rooftop and mining, including in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha. Practical solutions can pave way for meeting Australia’s huge workforce shortfall and spur its economy with Indian workers temporarily assigned to Australia.
Sport has emerged as a new priority. Focused and broad based strategy can propel cooperation in sport education, training, medicine, goods, infrastructure and organisation of large-scale events, such as Commonwealth Games 2030 and Brisbane Olympics in 2032. With the growing Indian diaspora in Australia, now over ten lakh and rightly called the living bridge, Indian traditional sports such as kabaddi and kho kho are gaining popularity, even beyond the diaspora community.
The upward trajectory of the bilateral relationship owes itself to a high degree of mutual trust, understanding and respect. Broad convergence of values and interests expands the format of cooperation to trilateral, such as India-Indonesia-Australia and India-France-Australia. The Australia-Canada-India Technology and Innovation Partnership, launched in November 2025, the India-Japan-Australia Supply Chain Resilience Initiative and a possible triad with the United Arab Emirates could play important roles in countering supply chain disruptions and market dominance and distortions in crucial areas such as critical minerals, rare earths, semiconductors and new technologies.
The shared vision of India and Australia for a free, open, safe, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific manifests in their work through fora such as the Quad and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). The foreign visits this week by Mr. Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese bring out the geopolitical logic for ever-growing cooperation between India and Australia at regional and global levels. Their existing ties with Pacific Island Countries provide a good basis for leveraging their respective strengths to the benefit of the region in areas such as education, health, technology, fintech, capacity building and disaster relief.
Mr. Albanese never tires of mentioning his connection with India as a young backpacker. His understanding of the significance of a consequential relationship with today’s India and the close chemistry between the two leaders have set the perfect stage to progress bilateral ties in T20 mode but in the long format, and to multiple win-win outcomes for both.
Gopal Baglay is a former High Commissioner of India to Australia. The views expressed are personal
Published - July 08, 2026 12:08 am IST