Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Philip Green OAM has described India as an “indispensable partner” and “top-tier security partner” as ties between the 2 countries grow. “Our relations are close in a way that may never have been. In fact, India is now our indispensable partner in the balancing effort in the Indo-Pacific,” Green stated.

Speaking at Ananta Centre, High Commissioner Green emphasised the significance of India as an indispensable partner in the Indo-Pacific region, particularly through collaborative efforts in the Quad grouping and maritime domain awareness in the Northeast Indian Ocean.

The high commissioner underscored India’s pivotal role in Australia’s supply chain resilience strategy. Highlighting India’s capabilities in producing electric vehicles and solar panels at scale, he noted, “India is a key part of our diversification agenda and supply chain resilience.” This collaboration is particularly crucial as both countries aim to deal with supply chain disruptions and promote sustainable energy solutions.

The High Commissioner lauded the rapid growth in India-Australia relations over the past five years, describing it as the “fastest build-up of one of our big relations in history.” This remarkable progress has positioned India as a “top-tier security partner” for Australia, with joint efforts extending into areas such as solar energy.

Green pointed out India’s ambitious goal of installing solar panels on 10 million rooftops within the next three years and expressed Australia’s commitment to collaborate closely in this sector. “Australia is the country with the largest proportion of households with solar on the roof in the world. This is an area where I want to see close collaboration,” he added.

Addressing recent concerns regarding attacks on Hindu temples in Australia, Green reassured that Australia remains committed to maintaining harmonious relations among its diverse population.

“We take very, very, very seriously harmonious relations between people of all parts of the world who come to our country,” Green affirmed.  The High Commissioner emphasized the efforts of Australian agencies, including police and security forces, in ensuring the safety and security of all Australians, particularly in protecting diplomatic premises and places of worship. Indians form the largest wave of recent migration to Australia.

Both countries have achieved a number of milestones in the last few years, including, the 2022 India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) which resulted in an immediate reduction of duty to zero on 96% of Indian exports to Australia in value (that is 98% of the tariff lines) and zero duty on 85% of Australia’s exports (in value) to India. In 2020, both sides signed the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA).