AIYD 2024 – Australia India Youth Dialogue

I begin by acknowledging the Ngunnawal people as the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet.

I pay my respects to their Elders, past and present; and I extend that respect to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples here with us today.

It is a pleasure to speak to you, not only as the Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, but as an alumnus of the Australia India Youth Dialogue.

In 2016, I stood where you are standing today.

I remember the excitement of arriving in another country, meeting other young people from Australia and India who were passionate about the same thing and wondering what we, as a group, and as individuals, could go on to achieve.

My roommate for the AIYD was Harsh Sanghavi, who is now the Minister of the State of Gujarat.

We've both enjoyed following each other's careers as AIYD alumni.

He is just one of many examples of the potential of AIYD participants, of the AIYD's ability to identify passionate, young individuals to participate in its program – and to connect them with each other.

I've often thought that that experience demonstrates the importance of the connections you make today.

Many past AIYD participants have used the experience as a launching pad.

Whether that be to contribute further to the Australia-India relationship, to deepen our cultural understanding of each other, or more broadly.

The current Australian Ministry includes three AIYD alumni: myself; Matt Keogh, the Minister for Defence Personnel and Minister for Veterans' Affairs; and our youngest Minister, Anika Wells, the Minister for Aged Care and the Minister for Sport.

Jo Haylen, a 2013 AIYD alumna is now New South Wales' Minister for Transport.

Sunaina Kumar, who participated in AIYD in 2019, went on to be the Director of the Think20 at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and Steering Committee member, and is now an inaugural Maitri Fellow with the new Centre for Australia India Relations.

She will be using this to bring AIYD alumni and Maitri Fellows together to expand and grow the broader Australia-India ecosystem.

The Co-Chair, Bo Hedwards, met one of the AIYD Founders, Shaun Star, in 2020 when she was a delegate.

At the time, Bo was leading Monash University's Global Immersion Guarantee (GIG) and was working to expand the opportunities for students to study in India.

Bo and Shaun led the establishment of a GIG program with O.P. Jindal Global University, and in partnership with the New Colombo Program, supported hundreds of students to participate in a two-week program in India.

And like Sylvia Mishra, who was actually another delegate in my cohort.

Sylvia then was a researcher working with the think-tank the Observer Research Foundation at their Strategic Studies Initiative.

I remember she was a fierce advocate of promoting dialogue between countries, including our own, through all types of different forums – and especially track 2 dialogues, just like AIYD.

Sylvia is now at Harvard's Institute for Security and Technology working on emerging technology policy – contributing to the bigger picture of understanding the complex strategic issues at play in modern global affairs.

And really, this is the type of collaboration and exchange we want to encourage…

The Australia-India partnership has never been as close, nor as active, nor as vital, to our region – and young leaders on both sides of the relationship are helping to drive the momentum in the relationship.

In India, the median age is just over 28.

It's home to more than 300 million children under the age of 15.

Nearly one million Indians reach working age every month.

The future of the relationship will be determined by the success of these young people.

By you.

By the connections you make and the work you do together.

As we see more interaction between Australia and India – whether it's between our governments, our universities and research institutes, our communities, or our best and brightest young leaders like you here tonight – we see more innovation and new ideas forming.

We see new businesses and enterprises being created.

We see more success stories, like Harsh, Matt, Anika, Sunaina, Bo, Shaun and Sylvia…

It's the personal interactions, fostered by platforms like AIYD and others that promote collaboration, that are the building blocks of our bilateral ties.

That's why I am pleased tonight to launch a new Australian government initiative intended to foster collaboration between us…

…the Australia-India Strategic and Technology Policy Initiative… or "SATPI".

SATPI will offer grants to Australian and Indian organisations looking to collaborate to tackle the strategic and technology policy issues facing our region.

And as the next generation of leaders, it's important that you contribute your perspective to realising shared opportunities and tackling shared challenges.

I'd encourage all of you to check it out once the program goes live this Wednesday.

I have full confidence that when Australia and India work together, we can achieve a great deal.

AIYD is living proof of that fact, and I know SATPI will be too.

I look forward to seeing how you will all add to the next chapter of Australia-India relations.