Aus, India to hold annual ministerial dialogue on education

Natasha Chaku

Melbourne, Sep 7 (PTI) Australia will hold an annual
ministerial dialogue on education with India to facilitate
better understanding between the two countries on the sector
in the wake of a spate of racial attacks on Indian students
Down Under.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who returned here
after a visit to India, said Australia would explore options
for local universities setting up campuses in India.

"I actually was able to strike a positive agreement
with the Indian Government that we will have a annual
ministerial dialogue on education, including in that dialogue
representatives of our universities and our business community
and representatives of the Indian universities and Indian
business community," she said.

"It is a big opportunity for us in circumstances where
India has a huge thirst to grow its education system and in
part is contemplating that growth being through foreign
providers like Australian providers going to India and setting
up shop, so a big opportunity for us there," Gillard said.

The Deputy Prime Minister said during her India visit,
she reassured Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh and Human
Resource Developement (HRD) Minister of India Kapil Sibal that
Australia was a safe place for Indian students.

"They accepted as representatives of the Indian
Government that Australia had appropriately responded to
support Indian students when they're in this country and we do
welcome around 100,000 Indian students each year," she told
ABC radio.

"If there are opportunities for our education
providers to build on the collaborations they already have
with Indian universities and provide education in India, then
that is clearly a big opportunity for us, not only in the
sense of earning export dollars but in the sense of giving
people an exposure to Australians, to Australian ways of doing
things, to Australian perspectives," Gillard said.

More than 20 Indian students in Australia were
racially attacked in a span of three months in various cities.

Gillard said India was an emerging superpower and
Australia wants to forge a strategic partnership with New
Delhi to cooperate right from defence to foreign affairs to
economic issues.

"India is an emerging superpower in our region. We
want to enter a strategic partnership with them to cooperate
right across the broad field of defence and foreign affairs
and economic issues and Prime Minister (Kevin Rudd) will be
having discussions about that strategic partnership when he
goes later this year," she said.

On a query if exporting education to India and setting
up campuses would translate into fewer Indian students coming
Down Under, she said: "I suspect we'll always see a mix of
both. There are always reasons why people want to come and
study abroad." PTI NC
SDE