India, Australia To Cooperate In Asia-Pacific
India is looking forward to cooperate with Australia in its efforts to expand relations with countries in the Asia-Pacific, the worlds fastest-growing economic region, Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma said here yesterday.
Speaking at a dinner hosted by the House of Representative Speaker Bob Haverson in Canberra, Sangma said Indias foreign policy was becoming oriented towards increasingly expanding cooperation with countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
We, therefore, look forward to cooperating with Australia in our efforts to develop new links and expanded cooperation with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, he said.
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Sangma, who is heading a parliamentary delegation to Australia, said, while relations between India and Australia had always been cordial, we are particularly happy at the new dimension that the economic cooperation between our two countries is attaining.
He said the Indo-Australian trade relations had been growing so rapidly now that bilateral trade had the potential to double every four to five years.
In recent years, 199 Indo-Australian joint ventures involving participation of Australian companies in India have been approved, Aangma said, adding that projects with an investment of A $ 1.1 billion involving such companies had also been approved.
Likewise, many Indian companies are now showing increasing interest in establishing their presence in Australia... We look forward to cooperation with Australian companies, especially in areas which are crucial for our economic development, like mining, power, ports, roads and food processing, he said.
Commenting on the reforms in India, Sangma said there had been a consensus on issues of foreign policy and national security for many years now, but in recent years this had been extended to measures for economic reforms and liberalisation.
The Sangma-led delegation met Governor-General Sir William Deane, acting Prime Minister Tim Fischer, foreign minister Alexander Downer and members of Australia-India parliamentary group as part of their programme.