(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has signalled a broader defence partnership with India may emerge as the world's largest democracy's security interests align ever closer with Australia's.
Mr Abbott is in the Indian capital for bilateral talks with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi.
The two leaders are signing off on a deal for Australia to sell the nuclear powered country Australian uranium.
Amanda Cavill reports.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full report)
Trade and investment have been the major focus of Mr Abbott's visit, with the Government keen to pursue new business opportunities in the world's third largest economy.
Both governments want to boost their two-way trade, currently standing at $15 billion a year, just one tenth of Australia's trade with China.
Mr Abbott says India is important to Australia in so many ways.
"We haven't invested enough time and effort in this particular relationship when it comes to trade and investment. We do need to invest more time and effort into the trade and investment relationship with India. If we do put the same amount of time and effort into this one that we've put into some of our other relationships, there's no reason why the economic relationship with India in the years to come cannot resemble the economic relationship that we've already got with the major countries of North Asia."
Efforts to promote maritime peace and security have also been high on the agenda.
Australia and India became strategic partners in 2009 and have since agreed to begin bilateral naval exercises and engage more closely on intelligence.
Mr Modi has also just returned from a five day trip to Japan, another close Australian partner, where defence cooperation and regional tensions with China were top of the agenda.
And it would not be a visit to India without cricket.
Tony Abbott met Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar at a cricket workshop for children.
Mr Abbott hailed the role of cricket in bringing the two nations together, both of them sharing a passion to beat England in the game.
Former Australian cricketers Brett Lee and Adam Gilchrist were also present at the function.
Adam Gilchrist, part of many duels when India took on Australia, says cricket has played a big part in bonding the two nations.
"The India-Australian relationships go back a long way. They're historic, and they're strong. (There's) healthy economic partnerships. There's successful educational and scientific-research collaboration. And, of course, there's sport -- and, more so, cricket -- that binds our strong, proud nations together."
Mr Modi and Mr Abbott are signing a nuclear safeguards deal allowing Australia to finally sell uranium to India.
The deal to export uranium to India is expected to double Australia's overall uranium exports by 2018.
Some have expressed concern India's nuclear power sector is unsafe and poorly regulated, but the Prime Minister says it is not up to him to interfere in India's internal affairs.
"It's not our job to try to tell India how to conduct its internal affairs. Our job is to try to ensure that we act in accordance with our own standards of decency, and that's what we intend to do. But one of the things that everyone who's dealt with India knows is that their standards are improving all the time."
Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says he does not see any problems over sales of Australian uranium to India.
Mr Shorten says he does not think criticism that India could misuse the uranium is correct.
"India's a sovereign nation, and, providing there are safeguards and oversights, I don't see that there's any basis for the assumption of your question that we can't trust India. We're very lucky that we have nearly 300,000 Indian-born Australian citizens. The Indian Ocean is one of the two great oceans which border our very special continent which we call home. I think Tony Abbott's continuing the tradition of other Australian leaders of deeper and greater engagement with India. I, for one, am not going to start saying that one can't trust India."
And Tony Abbott is handing over a 900 year old bronze Hindu statue to India.
The dancing Shiva was taken from a temple in Tamil Nadu and moved internationally before being sold to the National Gallery of Australia.
The controversial sale had become an unwelcome distraction for the two nations, with many in India demanding its return.
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