visa corp @ Professional Assessment and Visa Strategy

PM Modi has been very well received by world leaders and in particu l ar PM

Tony Abbott Austral ia has realised the importance of rising India as an economic powerhouse, and they ca n not let this opportunity go by when their own economy is in a bad shape - es p ecially seeing Austral i a's dependence on Ch ina

This is a not only a great diplomatic win for PM Modi but an even greater diplomatic win for PM Abbott Economy and employment are r ight at the top of PM Abbott's agenda, and his party's future is hanging on an economic recovery

Australia is one of the b iggest exporters of mineral resources to the world and in particular China Th e Australian economy is too heavily ba lanced on t h e mining boom and wit h the slowdown in Ch ina, the demand for Australian ir on ore and othe r resources has declined There has been a 40 p er cent drop in iron o re prices in the past six months alone

PM Modi has a t rill ion dollar i nfrastructure plan for India and Australia sees itself as a major beneficiary of that investment. It would be a win-w in situation for both India and Australia to continue to cooperate with each other and be economic partners in the Asi a Pacific region

Austral ia is p rimaril y an export-based economy and w ill conti n ue to be so given its vast mineral resources The Austral i an government will be expecting infrastructure stimul us in Asia, in particu la r Indi a, which increases the demand for mineral resources

Another key area of cooperation is the energy security of over a billion peo p le in India The Modi government is keen on renewable energy sources such as so lar, wi n d and nuclear energy to sat isfy the energy needs of India Australia is a key partner due to the expected Civil Nuclea r deal to exp ort high grade urani um to India

Another key area of cooperation is skill expo rt to Austral i a as India's demographic and workforce can be used as human resources for the world Austral ia needs to open up thei r immi gration policies to selective l y seek skills which they can get from India We as immigrants shou ld continue to i n vest in India in the form ofremitta nces and be a pa rt of t he growth stor y Global re m ittance is 430 b illion dollars of which India receives over 70 billion dollars Th is rem ittance can furthe r be increased ifthe Modi government takes effective steps to reduce the per transaction remittance cost.

Austra lia and India are both stable regimes with a common set of values and democrati c setup The time i s ripe for them to move this cooperation to the next level and remove the notion of any geop olitica l comp ulsions

We as the Indian community shou ld conti nue to work as a link to support and enhance th i s relations hip going forward As they say, there i s no better time than now!

Amit Bhatia