The government will also offer $3.5 million under the Maitri grants and fellowships program for professionals and $6.1 million under the Maitri cultural partnership to boost the role of creative industries.
The latest move comes after last week's meetings between Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women Marise Payne and Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar.
Dr Jaishankar was on his first official visit to Australia to attend the fourth in Melbourne.
Highlights:
- Australian government announces three 'Maitri' (friendship) initiatives, signs MoU with India to boost tourism
- An $11.2 million scholarships program will attract and support high achieving Indian students to study at Australian universities
- A $3.5 million grants and fellowships program will build links between future leaders, supporting mid-career Australian and Indian professionals
Ms Payne said the scholarships program "will showcase Australia’s globally renowned academic and research institutions, particularly in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and health".
"The $3.5 million Maitri Grants and Fellowships Program will build links between our future leaders, supporting mid-career Australian and Indian professionals to collaborate on strategic research and shared priorities."
"The $6.1 million Australia-India Maitri Cultural Partnership will boost the role of creative industries in our economic and people-to-people ties. This partnership will also promote artistic talent and cultural exchanges in our two countries’ world-class visual and performing arts, literature, film, television and music industries," she added in a with Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan.
Mr Tehan was in India last week to meet India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal to discuss the free trade agreement between the two sides.
During Mr Tehan's visit, the two sides renewed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on tourism cooperation and launched the Australia India Infrastructure Forum.
"The renewed MoU positions tourism operators to take advantage of our international border re-opening to all fully vaccinated eligible visa holders, including tourists and business travellers from 21 February," the joint statement said.
"Under the MoU, Australia and India will promote travel between the two markets and advance cooperation on tourism policy, data sharing, training, and industry engagement," it added, while noting that before the pandemic India was Australia’s fastest-growing source of international visitors.
In 2019, almost 400,000 visitors from India visited Australia and spent a total of $1.8 billion.
Rolling out the initiatives, Ms Payne said the federal government is further strengthening ties with India, which is one of Australia’s most important partners in the Indo-Pacific region.
"These initiatives reflect our nations’ shared commitment to cooperation and exchange, as set out in the Australia-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, agreed in June 2020," Ms Payne said.
Bhavika Unnadkat, an Indian-origin woman who works in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine), welcomed the new initiative for Indian students.
"This will be a great boost to the participation of students in STEMM programs. These scholarships/funds will help students to focus on studies rather than survival, especially after what COVID has done to the economy," Ms Unnadkat, the head of data governance and knowledge management at Energy Australia, said.
Ms Bhavika Unnadkat, the head of data governance and knowledge management at Energy Australia. Source: Supplied by Bhavika Unnadkat
Echoing similar sentiments, director of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) Mitu Bhowmick said the move would give much-needed momentum to cultural activities during this time of the pandemic.
“I feel delighted to hear about this Maitri cultural partnership funding announcement. Cinema and arts are the biggest cultural bridge between countries and communities. They are the perfect glue that binds us together," Ms Bhowmick said.
Mitu Bhowmick, director of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. Source: Supplied by Mitu Bhowmick
"This will help us appreciate each other’s cultures especially in the wake of the despair and distance caused by COVID. There is so much that can be done in this space especially given how rich and diverse the artistic landscape is of both sides," she further commented.
