My name is Lisa Singh and as CEO of the Australia India Institute, it is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the launch of the Australia India Leadership Dialogue for 2023.
I would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land, the Ngunnawal people, on which we meet today and pay my respects to their Elders past and present.
Can I also acknowledge Assistant Foreign Minister Tim Watts, His Excellency, Manpreet Vohra, Indian High Commissioner to Australia, Deputy High Commissioner Suneet Mehta, Shadow Foreign Minister Simon Birmingham, The Member for Paramatta, Andrew Charlton, Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan, The Member for Berowra Julian Leeser. Our principal sponsor Atlassian and our other sponsors the Victorian Government, Tata Consultancy Services, The Confederation of Indian Industry, Air India and the University of Melbourne.
Firstly, for those not familiar with the Australia India Institute, we’re a research and policy thinktank located at the University of Melbourne, and Australia’s leading centre dedicated to promoting support for and understanding of the Australia India relationship.
We’ve been running the Australia India Leadership Dialogue for six years now –it is the eminent forum for informal diplomacy between Australia and India.
After a highly successful Dialogue last year in Delhi, I am delighted to announce Atlassian, will be partnering with us again this year in Melbourne.
We began working with the Australian-founded global tech company in 2022 and I’m excited about what we can both achieve going forward.
The countdown is on for this year’s dialogue: its being held in just under 6 weeks’ time on November 23 at the Sofitel in Melbourne.
Known as a track 1.5 dialogue, it will bring together 50 of the best and brightest leaders from both countries in the government, academia and the corporate world.
There has been no better time for the Australia India bilateral relationship, with the bonds between our two nations sky rocketing.
This has been a landmark year, with the eyes of the world turning to India following the G20, and with an unprecedented number of high-level engagements between Australia and India.
Prime Ministers Anthony Albanese and Narendra Modi have met seven times this year alone.
Prime Minister Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Australia twice. Not to be outdone, Prime Minister Albanese became the first Australian Prime Minister to visit India twice in one year.
Reaffirming the strength of our ties, both Prime Ministers held the 1st Annual Summit in New Delhi on 10 March 2023.
2022 was also a record-breaking year for two-way trade between our nations, reaching a value of $46.5 billion, up by more than 12 billion the previous year.
And the economic momentum is only gaining, with the Australia-India Economic Comprehensive Trade Agreement coming into force in December 2022.
The Indian diaspora in Australia has also grown to be almost one million strong, only second to England. The Indian diaspora are catalysts for bridging the cultural divide and are the gateway to greater opportunities for collaboration.
This year we have targeted four key areas to build on: clean energy, jobs and skills, security and geopolitics, and technology and culture.
These four areas underpin the key issues facing not only Australia and India, but also the world – climate change, the transition to the knowledge economy and growing geopolitical tension.
These issues are particularly salient as no country will be able to address them on their own. Nevertheless, whilst these issues have the potential to create disorder, they also provide ample opportunity for enhanced bilateral cooperation.
During the one-day event, we will invite experts, leaders, and government ministers to brainstorm solutions to these global challenges.
Both India and Australia have proud histories of innovation in technology, and we see many opportunities for partnerships and growth if we work together.
Both nations also play important roles as regional powers in their spheres of influence, supporting other nations in a complex and changing economic and security environment.
It is only through high level and purposeful dialogues like the Australia India Leadership Dialogue that we find solutions to the challenges that threaten to disrupt our world.
This is an opportune moment to capitalise on the global spotlight on India and advance discussions on how the Australia-India bilateral relationship can be a force for positive change.
On that note, it gives me great pleasure to introduce Avani Prabhakar, Atlassian Global Head of Talent and our AILD co-chair 2023.