in India

She said the “ambitious” free trade agreement (FTA) they planned to negotiate would be mutually beneficial.

As part of their deepening engagement in security cooperation, the navies of the two countries are to hold

Both sides also discussed cooperation in counter-terrorism

In the field of energy security, Bishop said India could count on Australia for its “trusted and reliable support” for its needs, including coal, LNG and civil nuclear energy cooperation.

Bishop said there were “no specific time lines” in concluding the civil nuclear agreement with India and both were “waiting to Energy-starved India aims to upgrade its nuclear power generation capacity to 20,000 megawatts (MW) by 2020. Australia has one of the largest known uranium reserves in the world.

Australia, a key member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, had earlier been opposed to selling uranium to India as New Delhi has not signed the Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty (NPT). It reversed its policy in 2011.

Bishop also said her country welcomes Indians coming to Australia to pursue higher education. As part of wooing bright Indian minds to that country, the Abbott government has proposed a new programme under which students can pursue internship with a business company, she said.