As Modi visits Sydney, Australia and India reach an agreement to increase student mobility

While visiting Sydney, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed the Australia-India Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement. The agreement will, according to the partners, “promote the two-way mobility of students, graduates, academic researchers, and business people, while also enhancing cooperation to prevent irregular migration and people smuggling.” The countries announced the creation of a Mobility Arrangement for Talented Early Professionals Scheme exclusively for India.

A new Centre for Australia-India Relations, with its headquarters in Parramatta in Greater Western Sydney, will serve as a national forum for bringing together government with business, academia, and the community. In his first year as Australia’s president, Albanese has met Modi six times. According to the government, the meeting built on the conclusions of the March Australia-India Annual Leaders’ Summit. The deep and solid ties that Australia has with India have been strengthened by Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Australia, according to Albanese.

“We must invest in this relationship. Australia will benefit from our close relationship with India in terms of trade, business, and investment as well as in terms of regional security and stability. “The Indian-Australian community has made Australia a better place, and we want to see more ties between our two nations.” The extensive bilateral conversations also covered the nations’ trade, investment, and economic ties, joint efforts to develop green energy, and proposals for an Indian consulate general in Brisbane and a new Australian consulate general in Bengaluru.

According to local media, the agreement will grant two-year working visas to Indians under the age of 30 who possess specific talents and fluent English without first requiring them to have a job or proof of further studies. The Australian claimed that the scheme’s first enrollment cap will be 3,000 students per year.