Cricket diplomacy, all set for Modi-Albanese talks

New Delhi, March 9

Cricket diplomacy set the stage for talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese on Friday as the two sides take their partnership into strategic areas such as defence and critical minerals amid the rising China threat.

Editorial: India-Australia rapport

Both Prime Ministers briefly watched the fourth Test match between India and Australia in Ahmedabad, opening the doors for cricket diplomacy at the summit level. The last summit-level diplomacy by India was in 2011 when then PM Manmohan Singh extended a flash invitation to his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani.

With the two sides having inked an interim FTA, the two sides are looking at greater mobility. With Australia facing labour shortage, Albanese has already announced that a ‘Australia-India Education Qualification Recognition Mechanism’ will recognise degrees from India.

High on the agenda after two visits to India by Australian FM Penny Wong and one to Canberra by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar within one month is a foray by an Indian public sector consortium into Australia’s reserves of rare earths that are central to all hi-tech products.