By NE NOW NEWS
Guwahati: Australian Consul General in Kolkata Bernard Lynch on Monday underscored the growing strategic and economic partnership between India and Australia, while highlighting Northeast India’s potential as a key connectivity hub in the Indo-Pacific region.
Speaking at a discussion on “Quad in the Indo-Pacific: Opportunities and Challenges for Australia and India” organised by Gauhati University, Lynch said cooperation between the two countries had expanded significantly across trade, education, defence and regional security.
Referring to the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, elevated in 2020, Lynch said bilateral trade had witnessed rapid growth following the signing of the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) in 2022. He noted that while India’s global trade had grown substantially over the past four years, trade with Australia had expanded at a much faster pace.
He also said negotiations were underway for a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, which is expected to further strengthen economic ties between the two countries. Lynch added that high-level engagements between New Delhi and Canberra remained frequent, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected to visit Australia next month.
Addressing the Indo-Pacific’s evolving geopolitical landscape, the Australian diplomat said the region was facing increasing strategic competition and pressure on the rules-based international order. He described the Quad grouping of India, Australia, the United States and Japan as an important platform for promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the region.
Lynch stressed that the Quad was not a military alliance and said cooperation among member countries focused on areas such as maritime domain awareness, critical minerals, energy security and resilient supply chains.
A significant part of the discussion centred on Northeast India, which Lynch described as a region with immense untapped potential for strengthening connectivity between India and Southeast Asia. He highlighted Australia’s ongoing development initiatives in Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh through programmes focusing on water management, education, community resilience and women’s empowerment.
Gauhati University Vice-Chancellor Nani Gopal Mahanta called for expanding Australia-India educational cooperation beyond metropolitan centres and emphasised the potential of institutions in Northeast India to play a larger role in international academic partnerships.
Echoing the sentiment, Lynch said collaborations between Australian and Indian universities had grown significantly in recent years and expressed interest in exploring future partnerships with Gauhati University.
The event was attended by senior university officials, faculty members, research scholars and students.