Aus university unveils its five-year strategy to boost ties with India

A top Australian university on Wednesday announced a five-year strategy to strengthen its ties with India across a range of fields including health, education, law and cultural arts.

The University of Melbourne's 'Engaging with India 2020-2024' strategy seeks to boost collaborations of mutual interest, expand the quality and impact of research and develop graduates with the capabilities and experience to engage meaningfully with Indian counterparts across academia, government, business and civil society and create opportunities for Indian partners to share their expertise in Australia.

"The University is committed to building on its strong foundation of partnerships in India," said Duncan Maskell, the Vice-Chancellor of the university.

"We will work to strengthen our long-standing ties and accelerate collaborations with our Indian partners to address shared social and scientific global challenges. Issues such as climate change, water management, health and food security are just some of the shared global challenges facing both countries," he said.

The new strategy will enable academics across varied fields of study to continue to work in partnership with the varsity's colleagues in India, curating research ties, developing grants, co-authoring publications and executing research projects.

The university's engagement with India will concentrate on Delhi, Maharashtra and Karnataka, as well as regional areas including Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, it said.

"There is currently a high tempo of engagement between Australia and India. Following the release of the India Economic Strategy in 2018, I'm pleased to see another focused strategy to support our bilateral engagement," said Australia's High Commissioner to India Harinder Sidhu.

"Our engagement in India reflects the broader ideals of the university and its ability to make a difference in society," said the University of Melbourne's Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) Shitij Kapur.

Last year, the Australian government released 'An India Economic Strategy to 2035', an ambitious plan to transform relationship with the India.

It aims to lift India into its top three export markets by 2035, to make it the third largest destination in Asia for Australian outward investment and to bring India into the inner circle of Australia's strategic partnerships and with people to people ties as close as any in Asia.