Abbott hails emerging superpower, India for practicing democracy

Hailing India for being a democratic nation, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Tuesday stated that with New Delhi emerging as a superpower in Asia, the balance of power was shifting in the Indo-Pacific region which is increasingly becoming the buzzword around the globe.

"Although India's GDP per person is still only about half of China's, its growth is strong, its economic prospects are bright, and its population is likely to overtake China's in the next couple of decades. This is why, people now speak of the Indo-Pacific. The Indo-Pacific as the focus of the world's economic dynamism. With China, India is the emerging superpower of Asia. The emerging superpower that is already a democracy," Abbott said here at the joint session of Australian Parliament.

Further throwing light on the commonality with India and Australia's history, he said, "Our two nations have much in common, we share an Ocean, we share our language, we share a heritage as Westminster democracies enjoy in freedom under the law. We even share the same national day - the 26th of January. Above all we share our history....As part of British Empire forces our soldiers shared the tragedy of Singapore...Australians admired the way India won independence, not by rejecting the values learnt from Britain, but by appealing to them. Not by fighting the colonizers but by working on a conscience.... India has magnificently maintained its democracy."

Abbott also talked about the reverse students flow taking place in the coming days referring to the new Colombo plan, wherein thousands of Australian students getting a change to study in India.

"For over a decade, upto 40,000 Indian students have been in Australia at any one time. And from next year, under the new Colombo plan, Australia will be returning the compliment by sending thousands of our own, best and brightest to study at the universities of India. This is a sign that we are finally grasping the opportunities that India presents," he said.