Victoria’s India Strategy will be launched in January 2018.
This was announced by the Premier Daniel Andrews at Strengthening India Forum in Melbourne on Tuesday morning.
Premier Andrews will also visit India in January.
The Victorian government had over 180 consultations with stake holders to develop an India Strategy to maximize the unique connections Victoria shares with India.
Premier Andrews said, “Victoria and India is an important partnership” and outlined the four broad themes that will provide the foundation for future engagement between India and Victoria.
Source: SBS
He said, “To strengthen our relationship, we must commit to long-term engagement and ensure that we work together based on a shared understanding of meaningful engagement and equal exchange.”
He said this strategy will ensure that these themes will be at the heart of Victoria’s approach to its relationship with India.
The four themes being meaningful engagement, equal exchange, personal connections and long-term commitment.
The strategy aims to explore new ways of working together, build knowledge and understanding of India across government and industry, drive closer engagement across priority sectors and invest in the pivotal drivers of economic growth.
Victoria is home to Australia’s largest Indian population, with 209,257 Victorians with Indian ancestry recorded at the 2016 Census.
Victoria is establishing the first Indian community precinct in Little India in Dandenong, Melbourne, to support and celebrate Victoria’s Indian communities with two more cultural centres being discussed for Wyndham (Melbourne's West) and Monash (Melbourne's East).
Victoria is the number one destination for Indian students in Australia. There were 34,000 Indian student enrolments in Victorian universities in 2016, accounting for 44% of all Indian students in Australia.
In 2016, Victoria welcomed 111,700 Indian visitors.
