On the global stage, India is a powerhouse by any metric. In 2023 they will hold the G20 Presidency, in April of this year its population of 1.4b surpassed China’s as the largest on the planet and its GDP trajectory is marching toward contention for the 3rd largest global economy by 2030. The numbers and influence are staggering.
Looking at India purely in the Australian context, it has more people aged 18 years of age, spread across its diverse 36 states and union territories, than the population of Australia. Think about that.
We have a lot in common and are friends, we see an uplift in engagement through the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA), share The Quad, and are ASEAN dialogue partners, and yes… cricket – we won’t mention the world test final.
Indian migrants are the second largest group of overseas-born Australians.
Australians need to see, feel, and live the experience and understand India to build educational relationships.
We’ve heavily invested in our understanding and future through the India Economic Strategy to 2035 and in 2023 founded the Centre for Australia-India Relations.
There has also been a flurry of joint activity recently that has seen Prime Minister and Ministerial missions and delegations hosted and key announcements, including, among others the new Deakin campus and respective education ministers signing the Australia-India Education Qualification Recognition Mechanism.
Australian Students in India
As a nation, we completely underestimate the value of the 2,000 students who, pre-covid, annually took part of their Australian University degree in India as a learning abroad experience.
India is the 6th most popular destination for Australian learning abroad students.
This small yet influential cohort represents our world-class higher education system. Australia and its institutions could utilize them further, engaging their in-country experiences and networks to build the relationship.
If Australian institutions intend to be in India, they need to remember it all starts with young people. Ensure you bring these ‘ambassadors’ along for the ride. Enabling young people to spend time on the ground exploring the rich kaleidoscope of India is mission-critical to long-term relationship success.
Learning Abroad can assist the partnership through;
- Engaging the diaspora as a pre departure resources
- Linking international Indian students with learning abroad students
- Leveraging Indian businesses through internships and work integrated learning
- Dual mentoring programs with Indian partner institutions
- Growing activity across Masters and PhD programs
- Access to institutional in country activity including alumni engagement and recruitment activity
Leading Australia’s future capability is the desire and willingness of young Australians. From school-aged children in the Asia Education Foundation India BRIDGE Schools partnership program to a robust Australia India Youth Dialogue bringing young Australian leaders together with Indian counterparts and the New Colombo Plan enabling Australian university students to live and study in India.
Educational relationships are successful when they transcend student recruitment. Institutions successfully engaged with India demonstrate this over time.
Commitment to community, collaborative research and shared industry engagement are the precursors to trust… and trust will facilitate an increase in interest from India.
