FDI in insurance will help boost India-Aus cooperation: Envoy

"The international community, generally, has been watching the issue (FDI) with close interest. Australia is a country which has built its wealth on the back of foreign investment... We instinctively recognize the contribution that foreign investment can make to economic growth and development," Australian High Commissioner to India Peter Varghese said.

Asserting that it wants to build the economic relations with India, he said "the more opportunities there is for us to invest here, the better...It will create this sort of close economic linkages that we would like to see between the two countries. So, against that background, we very much welcome the decisions that are been taken."

Cooperation in key strategic areas, including civil nuclear cooperation and trade and investment, will be among the issues of focus during Australian Prime Minister Julian Gillard's visit.

However, the Australian envoy refused to respond when asked if the two countries will ink the crucial civil nuclear pact."I will leave it for the Prime Minister to update the Indian government on where the matter is," he said when asked about the status of Labour Party's decision to positively reverse supply of uranium to India.

The visit will give a renewed thrust to negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement that will pave the way for greater market access to Indian companies and individuals.

Currently, the trade volume between the two countries stand at about USD 20 billion, growing at the rate of 20 per cent every year and is dominated by commodities.