visa corp @ Professional Assessment and Visa Strategy

PM Modi has been very well received by world leaders and in particul 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 - esp ecially seeing Austral i a's dependence on China

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 other 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 particula r Indi a, which increases the demand for mineral resources

Another key area of cooperation is the energy security of over a billion peop le in India The Modi government is keen on renewable energy sources such as solar, wi n d and nuclear energy to satisfy 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 export 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 selectivel y seek skills which they can get from India

We as immigrants should continue to i nvest 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 olitical comp ulsions

We as the Indian community should 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