India offers unprecedented opportunities for economic partnership, says Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay

High Commissioner Gopal Baglay, in his inaugural visit to Brisbane underscores the vibrant Indian diaspora's contributions to Australia and emphasizes the significance of nurturing ties between the two nations. In an exclusive interview with Kriti Bhardwaj of Australia India News, he outlines his top priorities, including community engagement, fostering economic partnerships, and enhancing opportunities for Indian students in higher education and skilling. Baglay stresses the importance of leveraging India's transformative growth and entrepreneurial spirit to attract Australian investment, positioning the partnership for mutual benefit and regional advancement. The dialogue concludes with optimism for future collaborations and the promise of a strengthened relationship between India and Australia. Following is the excerpt of the interview.

Kriti Bhardwaj: It is a great evening for us to have the new High Commissioner from India to Australia, in Brisbane, for the very first time. And we've just come out of a beautiful evening that we've managed to spend as part of the FICQ event. Thank you so much, Mr. Gopal, for joining us in Brisbane. I think you can just see the energy that was there in the room, the beautiful questions that we got. And I think it just makes me proud as an Indian. I've been in Australia for almost half my life, 17 years now. And to hear also the mention of chemistry, I think my eyes lit up because I also have a Bachelor's only in double major chemistry. And just to see how far Indians have come in the last few decades in Australia, and how proudly that was being represented in your speech. I think it's a privilege for us at India News. Thank you to Dr. Ram Mohan as well for giving us the opportunity. I obviously just want to take a few moments to take some additional questions that we couldn't cover upstairs. I think firstly, obviously, as Indians, we are proud of our nation, of our culture, but we do leave our country to come to lands like Australia to make our new home. With that comes many challenges, but if I had to zoom out and understand, what are the three top challenges that you have been maybe handled by the Prime Minister as you step into your new role? What would you say are the three top priorities for yourself?

High Commissioner Gopal Baglay: Namaste and good day to all of your viewers. It's really a privilege, a great privilege for me to be in Brisbane, Queensland, the sunshine country, world famous for its Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast and what not, but also a great honour for me to be the High Commissioner of India in Australia. I've just been in Canberra in my new role for two months. This is my first visit to Brisbane, and therefore, it's a delight for me to be talking to you and talking to the vibrant Indian diaspora over here. Now I agree with you that it's a matter of great pride for all of us to see the progress Indian diaspora has made in Australia and not for just themselves, achieving success, not only material success, but also keeping the Indian values, Indian culture alive in their festivals, in languages, in learning the music, in learning the dances, travelling to India, encouraging their Australian friends to travel to India, contributing to the Australian community, Australian society, and acting, as you said, as a bridge between the two countries. As for myself, I think you asked me what the three challenges are. I would say that there are many opportunities, because every challenge is also an opportunity. And if I were to restrict those opportunities only to three, it may not be full justice. But in the areas, the priority areas are, first of all, is the engagement with the community, with the Indian diaspora, the Indianorigin people, the Indians who live in Australia, and to look after them, look after their wellbeing, look after their welfare,

as the Government of India’s representative here. And also to help them connect with one another, help them connect with their goals, anything we can facilitate for them by talking to the local authorities, and also help them connect with India. So the people are the first priority. Another priority is economic partnership between Australia and India, because today India is growing like never before. It's a transformation underway. And the reason for that transformation is the policies of the Government and the technology that is being employed for empowering the people. It's a very rapid transformation. You blink and you miss. So it's one of our responsibilities, important responsibilities, to create awareness about the opportunities that India presents for trade and investment, and partnerships. And Australia is a multicultural, diverse country, with a diverse democracy. So is India. So naturally, Australia and India are partners, and can be even closer partners, and strengthen their economic partnership in all these new areas, like artificial intelligence, cyber, clean energy, critical minerals, and also agriculture, and all these products, which are mutually beneficial for the people of both the countries.

A third priority, I'm not saying it in number 1, 2, 3 terms of importance, but just enumerating them, is to enhance the opportunities for Indian students in the realm of higher education and skilling, and also encourage Australian institutions to enter into partnerships with Indian institutions, so that the benefits of human resources that India has, and the technological and educational levels which Australian institutes have achieved, they can be shared for the benefit of people in both countries.

Kriti Bhardwaj: That's amazing to know. Obviously a lot of work, as Indians we can keep putting in continually; so it's great to have your leadership and guidance in this space. I think the second question that comes to mind, obviously there's a lot of other things that I'm thinking through right now, but the main would be reverse migration as well. You hear these buzzwords that there are countries like Poland, for example, and other European countries where people will go get education, and then eventually they want to go back to their home country to take their skills back. Is that somewhat of a trend, and what benefits could there be between countries like India and Australia, where students coming out of India into Australia is going to continue to be a trend, I believe, but how do we make sure that that talent acquisition sort of retains for both countries? How can we benefit?

High Commissioner Gopal Baglay: It's a very, very important question that you have asked. If you look at the example with the United States and Europe, for example, Indian corporates, Indian corporate leaders of global giants, and many, many thousands of Indians who went there in the 1970s, 80s, 1990s, they have led the effort to bring back the benefits of their achievements at a global scale, the achievements that they have, bring the benefits back to India, both in terms of technological expertise, resources, as well as the networks. Many of them have invested back in India, and many of those global giants are now operating in India, working in India, manufacturing in India. So I would say that what was considered brain drain in the 1980s in India is a brain gain now. With Australia, we are now seeing an interest with India, and in India, we are seeing interest in Australia like never before. So this partnership is, for this, the sky's the limit, and we are just beginning to see the real potential. As the years will progress, I'm sure those young students who are coming to Australia to study last year, today, who will come tomorrow, as the years go by, I'm absolutely sure that their achievements will create the foundation for even greater success in a number of areas, which I mentioned earlier, for both the countries. And I'm absolutely sure that their expertise and the affection and the bond that they retain with India, that will be of immense benefit, not only for India, but also for Australia, and not only for these two countries, but for the entire region in which we are situated.

Kriti Bhardwaj: Thank you for that great insight into, obviously, I love the term brain gain, so I will be referring to that in future. I think the next one is, as you rightly alluded to earlier, India's economy is rightly upwards. We obviously have a great potential in terms of the percentage of youth that's in India and together with the skill set that we talk, but I think the question that comes to mind is, in terms of encouraging Australian businesses to invest into India, Australia has obviously had very close ties with other superpowers around the world, the likes of China and the U.S. What is the differentiating factor that India can offer and vice versa for Indians as well to consider Australia not as a country that's far away from them, but to your points, many similarities that exist. How do we encourage that confident investment into each other's countries?

High Commissioner Gopal Baglay: Again, you have asked a very, very important question. As I said, one of our main priorities over here is to strengthen the economic partnership and promoting investment in both directions, particularly from Australia to India, is something that I would like to work very actively for. Now, see, one advantage that India offers is the advantage of the scale. The depth and the breadth of transformation which is happening in India is amazing. It is unprecedented. And the speed at which the transformation is taking place is also unprecedented. You know that India is going to be the third largest economy in the world, and India is the most populous country. It's not only the largest democracy, but the mother of democracy. Why is democracy important? Because it gives you the rule of law, gives predictability, sustainability, security for the business, which is very important. So the advantages which India offers, I think I'm of course an Indian and the Indian High Commissioner here, but I would say that those advantages at one place are perhaps not available like that anywhere else in the world. Together with that is our entrepreneurial skill. You know that India is now the third largest innovation hub. Startups have made a huge difference. The youth who were seeking the job are today job providers. This is a revolution. How has this revolution come about? And what can further fuel this revolution, this transformation? It is an investment. It is providing them the needed capital, the venture capital. And I think the Australia-India partnerships in this sphere are going to be extremely important. So there are all these areas in which a number of initiatives can be taken to create awareness for the opportunities, to create more mutual understanding of each other's systems, of how the businesses are benefiting, what the success stories of Indian investment in Australia are, of Australian investment in India. And I think already we see a number of successful ventures from India into Australia and from Australia into India.

Kriti Bhardwaj: Well, thank you so much for your time. We look forward to having you again in Brisbane soon. And thank you for the great news of having our own consulate in Brisbane. I think it's going to solve a lot of issues for the community, but more so it is an opportunity for us, as you say. I love positivity as well. It's an opportunity for us to showcase the potential that we have of taking our Australian friends to India. And each of us is going to take that responsibility. So thank you once again, and hopefully we'll see you again soon.