Consulate General of India

Jill Dawson OAM, President, Perth Rotary
Craig Hook, President, City East Rotary
Manu Gupta, Former President, Perth Rotary
And other distinguished members,

Kaya, Good afternoon, Namaste.

I acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation, and pay my respects to their Elders - past, present and emerging.

I am honoured and delighted to join all of you today to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights. According to ancient traditions, Diwali is observed on the darkest night at the onset of autumn. The onset of winter is begun with the message of the power of light to renew life, the promise of spring that lies in the heart of autumn. The power of a single flickering flame in cutting through the void of darkness represents the power of courage, truth, and knowledge to bring together humanity against strife, evil, and ignorance.

I must congratulate Perth Rotary for its long history of 98 years of service to the community, supporting causes in public health, education, infrastructure and the promotion of the arts. I look forward to you reaching the milestone of 100 years in 2027.

I also wish you all the best for the upcoming annual Vienna Pops New Year's Eve Gala. Your support to causes like the Salvation Army and Family Domestic Violence Unit is truly remarkable. I look forward to the establishment of the Barry Marshall Research Institute for Infectious Diseases, honouring the legacy of Western Australia's own Nobel Laureate, Professor Barry Marshall.The contribution of scientists like Dr Marshall touches the lives of people all over the world. As a testament to the deep people to people connections between Western Australia and India, Dr Marshall was in India in November 2024 to inaugurate the H. pylori Research Centre at AIG Hospitals in Hyderabad.The prevalence of Heliobacter pylori in India is higher than that of diabetes with 50 to 60 % of the population affected by this chronic infection. The centre will focus on treatment, prevention, and research on the genetic variations in the H Pylori strains in India.

The Indian diaspora in WA has been growing steadily and has been a key conduit of the exchanges in trade, investment, education, skills, ideas, innovation and technology between WA and India.

The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which came into force in late 2022, marked a historic turning point in our trade relations. For the first time, two major democracies in the Indo-Pacific committed to reducing trade barriers, facilitating investment, and boosting economic growth on both sides.

For Western Australia, ECTA opens new avenues for exports in mineral and energy resources, agriculture, education, and services. It also encourages Indian businesses to explore collaborations and investments in WA's robust mining and energy sectors. As we move towards negotiating a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), this partnership is only set to grow deeper and broader.

The Australian Government announced a $16 million Australia-India Trade and Investment Accelerator Fund, which will help Australian businesses unlock new commercial opportunities in India particularly in high-growth sectors such as clean energy, critical minerals, agritech, fintech, and education services.

Complementing these efforts is a further $4 million investment in the Maitri Grants Program. These grants continue to strengthen our people-to-people, business-to-business, and cultural ties, by supporting initiatives across arts, education, research and community engagement.

In 2024 (Jan 2024 - Dec 2024), India was Western Australia's 6th largest trading partner, with trade-in-goods worth A$9.1 billion. India was Western Australia's 6th largest import market for goods worth A$2.6 billion and India was Western Australia's 6th largest export market worth A$6.5 billion. However, there is still a great deal of potential to further increase this trade.

Over the past few years, there has been a notable increase in high-level visits between India and Western Australia, reflecting the growing strategic and economic ties between the two regions. These visits have included delegations of senior government officials, business leaders, and ministers, aimed at strengthening cooperation in areas such as trade, investment, education, energy, and critical minerals.

In July 2022, Roger Cook, then Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Jobs and Trade, led the state's largest-ever business delegation to India, alongside Minister for International Education David Templeman. The visit was a landmark in successfully trengthening trade, investment, and education ties, promoting skilled migration opportunities, and building partnerships through high-level meetings, roundtables, and business networking events with Indian industry and government counterparts.

Rita Saffioti MLA, Deputy Premier, led a delegation to India in January 2024 to promote tourism, explore critical minerals investment, and discuss direct flight routes.

Amber-Jade Sanderson, Minister for Health and Mental Health of WA, travelled to India in February-March 2024 on a mission to strengthen links in healthcare, medical life sciences, and to recruit skilled health workers, delivering keynote speeches and meeting Indian state and central health officials.

While from Indian side, India's Commerce & Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal visited Perth on 8 April 2022, in the last leg of his Australia trip that followed the signing of the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (Ind-Aus ECTA).

Soon after India's Mines Minister, Prahlad Joshi visited Western Australia in 2022.

In February 2023, V. Muraleedharan, India's Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, visited Perth.India's External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar (EAM), visited Perth in February 2024 to attend the 7th Indian Ocean Conference.

And as recently as September this year, the Minister of State for Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Education, Jayant Chaudhary was in Perth. He met Hon'ble Amber-Jade Sanderson to discuss India-Western Australia cooperation in vocational training, green energy, and skill development. He also visited the North Metropolitan TAFE to explore collaboration with India's National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) in areas like mining technology, sustainability, and safety. There have been several other visits including senior government officials from Ministry of Steel, Ministry of Coal, and the Indian Space Research Organisation.

India and Australia became comprehensive strategic partners in 2020. This, along with our Quad partnership, makes the strategic and military component of India Australia relations of great significance. The role played by Perth as Australia's city on the Indian Ocean is thus that much more significant. The fourth edition of the bilateral military exercise AUSTRAHIND between India and Australia is ongoing even as I speak. It is being held from 13 to 26 October 2025 at the Irwin Barracks.The Indian contingent consists of about 120 personnel.The focus of the exercise is company-level operations in urban and semi-urban terrain, under a United Nations mandate.The aim is to enhance cooperation, interoperability, share tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs), and deepen the defence partnership between the two countries.

In November 2024, the Indian Naval Sailing Vessel INSV Tarini, crewed by two women officers made its first international port of call in Fremantle. The world's first ever Tri-service all-women circumnavigation expedition IASV Triveni which is set sail 26,000 nautical miles over 9 months, will be visiting Fremantle sometime later this month. This will be Triveni's first port of call after setting sail from Mumbai in India. We are working to make their sojourn in Perth a memorable one.

India aims to secure stable and diversified supplies of critical and strategic minerals essential for Electric vehicles (EVs), Battery storage, Solar and wind energy, Electronics and semiconductors. Western Australia is central to our collaboration in critical minerals especially lithium, rare earths, and hydrogen, which are essential for India's clean energy transition. Both governments are supporting joint initiatives, research collaborations, and strategic partnerships in these sectors, reinforcing our shared vision for a sustainable energy future. We had a high-level mining delegation led by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) which visited WA on 14-15 October 2025.

Direct flights between India and Perth are a landmark development that will bring our people and businesses closer. This will not only enhance tourism and trade but also provide vital connectivity for the Indian diaspora and international students. We commend the Western Australian Government for its proactive support in making this long-awaited dream a reality. Hon'ble Tourism Minister Reece Whitby was on a mission to make seven-year direct flight dream a reality for Perth and travelled to India this month. He has also there at the closing ceremony of Tourism Western Australia's largest-ever integrated marketing campaign in India.

The Australia India Youth Dialogue 2025 was held in India from the 15th to the 18th of September 2025. Over four days, delegates explored means to capitalise on the challenges and opportunities presented by the latest geopolitical developments and how they impact the India-Australia bilateral relations. I'm glad to note WA's Senator Mr Varun Ghosh was part of the Australian delegation at this Dialogue.

Education remains one of the strongest pillars of our relationship. During Jan to July 2025 there were 11,577 Indian students have chosen to pursue their higher education in Perth's world-class institutions including UWA, Curtin University, Edith Cowan, Murdoch and The University of Notre Dame along with VET institutes across WA. What's heartening is that these ties are evolving beyond student mobility into research collaboration, skills development, innovation partnerships, and dual-degree programs.

Western Australia is also actively engaging with India's new education policies and institutions, further strengthening this knowledge partnership. The University of Western Australia this year became the first Group of Eight university to receive recognition from India's University Grants Commission to establish a campus in India in Mumbai and Chennai.

The Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) has initiated operations in India, marking the first foreign government-supported school board in over two decades. The rollout is being facilitated through WAIS (Western Australian International Schooling), with plans to launch the programme in up to 100 Indian schools. The first WAIS-affiliated schools have already begun operations in Bengaluru and Bidar, Karnataka.

India's rising digital economy and Australia's research strengths can create powerful solutions in AI, cybersecurity, space and fintech. India's AI market is anticipated to reach US$17 billion by 2027. AI is expected to contribute between US$450- US$500 billion to India's GDP by 2025, accounting for approximately 10% of the country's goal to achieve a US$5 trillion economy. AI is being integrated into sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, finance, education etc paving ways for collaboration between India - WA.

India's energy transition is a significant opportunity for West Australian business. India's renewable energy market is projected to grow US$52.1 billion by 2033. The Government of India's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme is offering immense opportunities across 14 key sectors, encouraging international companies to establish manufacturing hubs in India.

Western Australia hosts a significant number of Indian IT professionals, particularly in Perth. These professionals are engaged in various sectors, including Oil & Gas, providing IT solutions and support for the energy sector. Government Services, contributing to digital transformation and public sector IT projects, Consultancies, working with local and international clients on diverse IT projects.Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, and HCLTech are the larger companies offering services in IT infrastructure and digital solutions. Nilesh Makwana, a prominent Indian Australian entrepreneur based in Perth is the co-founder and CEO of Illuminance Solutions, a Microsoft Gold Partner firm recognized for its commitment to social impact through technology. The company specializes in providing intelligent business solutions, including Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Applications, Power Platform, and Cloud-Azure Stack, to various sectors such as non-profits, mining, finance, and government.

India and Western Australia are deepening space collaboration through joint missions, shared infrastructure, industry exchanges, and government cooperation. WA's excellent geography, infrastructure, and vast land make it an ideal Southern Hemisphere hub for satellite ground stations. In October 2024, Indian space company Skyroot Aerospace entered into a strategic partnership with Swedish Space Corporation to utilize the Western Australia Space Centre (WASC) for launch tracking and telemetry services. Perth-based space technology company, LatConnect60 is set to launch its high-resolution Earth observation satellite, SWIRSAT, from India in 2026 marking a significant milestone in Western Australia - India space cooperation. Western Australia hosts some of the world's most sophisticated space tracking and communication facilities, such as the European Space Agency's C-band antenna and NASA's Deep Space Network station at New Norcia, which play a key role in supporting missions like India's Gaganyaan, the country's ambitious human spaceflight program.

India and Western Australia have strengthened their sports ties through high-profile hockey and cricket matches held in Perth. In August 2025, the Indian men's hockey team toured Australia for a four-match friendly series in Perth, serving as a preparation for the upcoming Hockey Asia Cup 2025.

The Perth-based AvidSys Group owned by the visionary Indian entrepreneur Ansh Gautam, through Avid Sports, has helped grow rugby in India. In April 2025, they bought the Chennai Bulls team in India's first professional Rugby Premier League. The Bulls won the championship in June 2025. In September 2025, the University of Western Australia partnered with Avid Sports to boost learning and industry links for students, supporting their goal to connect cultures through sports.

Tomorrow Perth will be hosting the opening match of the India-Australia ODI. I'll be there to cheer my team, and I'm sure many of you will be there to cheer yours'! Irrespective of who wins, it'll be a great day for cricket when two of the most closely matched rivals come together to make history.

There are more than 200 Indian associations in Western Australia, each playing a vital role in showcasing the rich cultural, linguistic, and regional diversity of India. These organisations represent various states, languages, faiths, and cultural traditions from Punjabi, Tamil, and Gujarati groups to yoga, spiritual, and arts organisations. Together, they form a vibrant tapestry of India's heritage and contribute significantly to community harmony, multiculturalism, and intercultural exchange in Western Australia.

Thus, while the more measurable parameters of this relationship lie in strategic agreements, military exercises, and volumes of trade, the soul of all this lies in stories of how the coincidence of Halloween and Deepavali on the same day saw families of Indian heritage in Australia come up with the ingenuity of the Diwaloween to double the fun.

This is the story of WA - India relations that we are here to celebrate today.

I wish all of you Shubh Deepavali. Thank you, Namaste.