Australia should focus on 10 promising Indian States with a vision to intensify bilateral ties by 2035, the country’s envoy said here on Wednesday, releasing a report that urged Canberra to refashion ties with India.
High Commissioner Harinder Sidhu said that India was not a monolith and was, in fact, a collection of States and a practical understanding of its federal structure helped in the conduct of business and investment.
“The focus on States reflects the reality that India is an aggregation of State economies each with different business conditions, strengths, and varying investment in social and physical infrastructure,” said Ms. Sidhu, launching a report titled “An India Economic Strategy to 2035: Navigating from Potential to Delivery,” authored by former Australian envoy to India Peter N. Varghese.
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The report has made 90 recommendations that are under consideration of the government of Australia.
Ms. Sidhu said that Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and the National Capital Region of Delhi would receive special attention from Canberra.
She indicated that the strategy to work with the Indian States directly took into consideration the fact that the States could also have difficult relation with the Central government. However, she maintained that the approach was “politics neutral” and aimed at engaging with States depending on Australia’s comparative advantage and ease of doing business.
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Selection of these States was made on the basis of their economic size and commitment reform.
This is the second time in recent weeks that a major economy has indicated its intention to work with Indian States directly. During the June 24-30 visit to India, the Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates also held a series of meetings with multiple State-level leaders.
The Australian envoy, however, said that her government was willing to look beyond the 10 States in the coming years.