Australia signs new migration deal with India

India and Australia have announced a migration agreement to increase their economic cooperation.

Following their Wednesday meeting in Sydney, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as well as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the statement.

“Promote the two-way mobility of students, graduates, academic researchers, and business people” is the agreement’s stated goal.

They also talked about regional security in light of the escalating regional tensions.

The Quad, a group of four countries comprising the US, Japan, and Australia, now includes Australia and India.

The group’s meeting in Sydney was cancelled last week because US Vice President Joe Biden had to return to Washington to discuss the debt ceiling.

However, after attending the G7 conference in Japan and travelling to Papua New Guinea, Mr Modi carried out his scheduled visit to Sydney.

Following Mr Albanese’s March visit to India, this is Mr Modi’s first trip to Australia since 2014.

The migration pact had been the subject of discussions for a few years. Australia already has a sizeable immigrant population from India; according to census data, of the more than a million people who have immigrated there since 2016, about a quarter were from India.

In addition, a new program called MATES (Mobility Arrangement for Talented Early Professionals Scheme), which has been “specifically created for India,” will be introduced due to the completed migration agreement.

The establishment of an Australia-India Green Hydrogen Taskforce and increased cooperation on mining and essential minerals were also topics of discussion, as per the Indian prime minister on Tuesday.

An agreement of comprehensive economic cooperation, which was signed between Australia and India, has existed for over ten years.

Thousands of members of the nation’s Indian diaspora had flocked to one of Sydney’s most significant indoor stadiums on Tuesday to hear Mr Modi speak at a rally there.

At the occasion, Mr Albanese observed, “The last time I saw someone on this stage was Bruce Springsteen, and he did not get the welcome that Prime Minister Modi has.”

The Indian population in Australia, according to Mr Modi, is “a living bridge” connecting the two nations.

According to him, mutual trust and respect form the foundation of the ties between Australia and India.