The test will be whether Australia and India can turn their converging interests into naval exercises, technology partnerships and shared maritime surveillance. A new plan for Australian defence policy has big implications for India. For New Delhi, the good news is that Canberra's 2013 Defence White Paper (WP), launched by Prime Minister Julia Gillard last week, sharply redefines Australia's region of strategic interest as being broadly the same as India's: the Indo-Pacific.

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Indian students in Australia have reacted to a new opinion poll, saying perceptions in India that they are unsafe don’t accord with their experience. The poll commissioned by the Australia India Institute and Lowy Institute for International Policy found that while Indians ranked Australia second only to the United States as their preferred education destination, 62 per cent of respondents believed that despite recent improvements, Australia is still a dangerous place for Indian students.

A poll released by the Australia India Institute and the Lowy Institute reveals some surprising findings on Indian public opinion towards Australia. Despite bad press over security of Indian students in 2009-10, Australia is well-liked in India. Indians hold relatively warm feelings towards Australia (56 degrees on a scale of 0 to 100), which ranks fourth after the United States (62), Singapore (58) and Japan (57) out of 22 countries in the survey.

India’s research output is climbing but its public universities have yet to be fully modernised, writes Simon Marginson, a professor in the University of Melbourne’s Centre for the Study of Higher Education. Writing in The Australian newspaper on April 10, 2013, Professor Marginson noted that after a long period of stagnation, India's output of journal papers is climbing, having more than doubled between 1995 and 2009. In an article focused on the so-called BRICs grouping of nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) he noted,

The University of Melbourne has appointed a new Chair in Contemporary Indian Studies, Professor Anthony P. D'Costa, who joins the Australia India Institute from the 1st of May, 2013. An important appointment for the university, the position is substantially funded by the State government of Victoria.

Novelist and Oscar-winning screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala has died at her home in New York, aged 85. Jhabvala was the writer of the film-making trio Merchant Ivory, whose films, including Heat and Dust and A Room with a View won six Academy Awards. She wrote a dozen novels and 23 screen plays throughout her illustrious career.

The festival of Holi has always been a boisterous one, in which Indians wait the entire year for the one day when they can splash colors all over each other. It is a phenomenon that resonates equally across urban and rural societies but has many variations. While Holi, especially in north Indian cities like Delhi, is often characterized by groups of young men exuberantly tossing powder and water balloons, it is a holiday for everyone.

China has a legitimate role to play in ensuring security in the Indian Ocean, a task force report produced by Australian and Indian experts has concluded. Approaches that seek to exclude China are unlikely to guarantee long-term regional stability, according to the report, commissioned by the Australia India Institute based at the University of Melbourne. At the same time, the report notes, China among others is using foreign aid as a ‘weapon of influence’ in the region. It describes the northwest Indian Ocean as ‘potentially one of the most insecure areas on earth’. Current security arrangements are seen as ‘fragile’ and ‘incomplete’.

The Times of India has reported a 50% rise in the number of visas issued to Indian students in the US in 2012. Statistics from the US consulate services said 5,600 student visas have been issued in India between October 2012-February 2013; a 50% increase since last year. The number of Indian students studying in the US has been in decline for two years.

Director of the Australia India Institute, Professor Amitabh Mattoo has accompanied The Honourable Louise Asher MLA of the Victorian Government Department of Business and Innovation on the Victorian Government Super Trade Mission to India from 11-15 March 2013. This fourth trade mission to India and second Super Trade Mission in 24 months demonstrates the Victorian Government’s commitment to strengthening Victoria’s relationship with one of the world’s most dynamic economies.

International Women’s Day, or the United Nations' Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace is annually held on March 8th to celebrate the achievements of women across the globe. Women’s rights and violence against women have never been more prominent in the social consciousness of India than they are today, following the rape and subsequent death of Delhi student Jyoti Singh Pandey. Protests, vigils, and government lobbies have ensued since the December 16 attack, and the high incidence of sexual assault in India has been recognised and abhorred on a global scale.

Thanks to a trade agreement between the two countries, India will for the first time import Australian lamb, to be sold as a premium product. Trade Minister Craig Emerson and Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig made the announcement yesterday, stating there is very heavy demand for Australian lamb in India. ''The trade is in its infancy but importers are scrambling to get their hands on consignments.'' Mr Emmerson said Australian lamb would appeal to India's growing middle-class, estimated at around 170 million.

The Australia India Institute is pleased to announce iconic Australian author, nomad, and scholar Robyn Davidson will be joining the Australia India Institute as Resident Artist. Robyn Davidson's first book, Tracks, an account of her journey with camels across Australia, won many awards, is published in twenty languages, and has never been out of print since its publication in 1980.

Indian MP Jay Panda has prepared a Private Members’ Bill which seeks plain packaging of tobacco products in India as per the Australia India Institute’s 2012 task force on tobacco control. By making amendments to the current Indian tobacco control law, The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, it is hoped the plain packaging bill would decrease the number of 
smokers in India, of which there are 275 million.

Trade Minister Craig Emerson visited India this week for the 14th Australia-India Joint Ministerial Commission held in New Delhi. This is Dr Emerson’s second visit to India as Trade Minister, and his first since being allocated the duty of assisting Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Asian Century Policy. Emerson met with India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma in New Delhi yesterday for talks about the countries’ trade and investment relationship, and issues covered included free trade talks, launched in 2011, business links, energy, food security, and developments in regional and global trade negotiations.

Following their successful forums in New Delhi and Mumbai in 2012, Australia India Youth Dialogue leaders converged on Melbourne today to continue this important conversation. Formed in 2011 to connect promising youth from Australia and India, the AIYD is fostering generational partnerships whose positive impact will shape relations between the two countries in the 21st century. The dialogue brings together 15 young Australian leaders and 15 young Indian leaders for talks on such issues as sustainability, international security, social innovation and education.

On January 26, Australia and India will both celebrate their National Days; Australia Day and Republic Day. Australia Day marks the arrival of Captain Arthur Phillip at Port Jackson in 1778 when he claimed Australia for the British. Originally called Foundation Day, Australia Day has been celebrated on this day since the landing.

The Honourable Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for Human Resources Development of the Government of India, former Under-Secretary of the UN, and Distinguished Fellow of the Australia India Institute (Aii) yesterday officially launched the Aii's Artists' Retreat. Comprising of twenty high-profile artists from India and Australia, the painters, sculptors and photographers embarked on a journey to India’s historic city of Jaipur to collaborate and create new artworks.

Music touches hearts and changes lives in ways few other art forms can. We will never calculate how many tears must have flowed for the loss of the greatest sitar player of his age, Pandit Ravi Shankar. His influence is beyond measure, as Christopher Kremmer writes.

The Australia India Institute has announced the successful applicants for its Emerging Leader Fellowship program for 2013. Undertaking a series of 8 week residential fellowships, the ELFs are outstanding mid-career Indian professionals from a variety of disciplines including media, the arts, academia, the civil service and public life.

Survivors and families of victims have attended a memorial at Mumbai Police Gymkhana in Chowpatty for the victims of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, which occurred in 2008. Four years ago today India’s financial capital was torn apart by four days of coordinated shooting and bombing attacks, killing 164 people and wounding over 300.

A 50% increase in the price of cigarettes in India would save 4.1 million lives, as it is estimated up to 10 million people would be deterred from taking up smoking, or would kick the habit altogether. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) study found that a 50% price hike in India, China, the Phillipines, Thailand and Vietnam would reduce the number of current and future smokers by up to 67 million people, and reduce tobacco-related deaths by over 27 million.

The Abhinaya Theatre from Kerala is collaborating with Australian producers to bring one of Europe’s most famous playwrights, Henrik Ibsen, to India. Abhinaya’s Artistic Director MG Jyothish said Sagara Kanyaka: The Lady from the Sea, written in 1888, had many links to contemporary Indian culture.

For more photos visit our Flickr page Photos br Daryl Snowdon

In the passing away of Dr Subhakanta Behera, the Consul General of India in Melbourne; India has lost a great diplomat, the Academy a true scholar, the world of culture a generous patron, Victoria’s Indian community a towering leader, the Australia India Institute a fierce supporter, and I have lost one of my close friends. For Mrs Rajshree Behera, Ananya and Amrita the loss is greater than can ever be expressed in words.

Copies of Amitabh Mattoo's latest publication The Reluctant Superpower are now available to order. The publication is a collection of essays based around ideas presented during the Australia India Institute's conference of the same name last year.

The Asian Century Report is a necessity with sensible aspirations, but it should have been thought of 12 years ago, and it’s probably not enough. Rory Medcalf, director of the international security program at the Lowy Institute and Fellow of the Australia-India Institute wrote in The Diplomat that Australia would be well-advised to follow the report, but there’s more to do and funds are limited.

India inspired a passion for community development work in Hayley Bolding, one of four young Victorians shortlisted for the state section of the Young Australian of the Year Award. Bolding, now 30, was just 23 and working as an intern with a not-for-profit organisation in the Indian city of Mumbai, when she saw an urgent need for capacity building across similar bodies. She founded Atma – which means 'soul' in the Hindi language – to support local groups in their efforts to give children a better chance at life through education.

STUDY TOUR INDIA 17th-27th January, 2013

Statement by Professor Amitabh Mattoo, director of the Australia India Institute. Melbourne, 29 Oct 2012. The director of the Australia India Institute, Professor Amitabh Mattoo said today that following the release of the Federal government White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century, new horizons have opened for relations between Australia and India.

AUSTRALIAN colleges could be working with hundreds of millions of students in 10 years if they readjust their "comfort zone" to the realities of India, a Kolkata-based business leader says. Prasenjit Kundu said Australia could capture a large slice of the Indian skills market by outsourcing quality assurance and IT, and adopting a "frugal innovation" mindset. "Frugal is not cheap," Mr Kundu told Melbourne University's Australia India Institute, where he is a visiting fellow.

The Australian reported Gillard as saying Australia's reputation in India has improved since her last visit. The two biggest obstacles in the relationship between Australia and India, according to Prime Minister Gillard; problems for international students and the uranium ban, have now been resolved.

Australia needs to look at new ways it can meet educational demand from Asia’s burgeoning middle class, Andrew Robb told a Brisbane forum yesterday. The Shadow Minister for Finance said the large numbers of Asian students in demand of education needed to be looked at as a business problem that requires a business solution, and not an academic one, The Australian reported today.

The University will establish a new scholarship in honour of renowned Indian composer and performer, Dr Ravi Shankar. The Ravi Shankar Scholarship for World Music will support an international Masters applicant who is deemed to be an outstanding music scholar or performer with AUD$15,000 in tuition fee help over the duration of their degree.

Thirty three senior Australian scientific researchers are heading for India under Australia-India Senior Visiting Fellowships announced by the Australian Academy of Science Tuesday. The grants for 2012-13 will support high-end research collaborations in diverse fields including medical nanotechnology, Ayurvedic medicine for patients with chronic diseases, and prevention of HIV/AIDS.

Will the stars align for the PM's meeting with Sonia Gandhi this week? At a time when the personal has truly become political, and politics has become polarised in almost Manichean terms, Labor and the Coalition are of like mind on one key area of national policy - the need for improved relations with India.

The Institute’s Dr Nick Hill has just returned from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s “Senior Executives in National and International Security” Program, hoping that the Australia India Institute can further its reputation as an authority on security and public diplomacy issues.

Today millions of people worldwide pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, on what would be his 143rd birthday. Revered by millions of Indians as Bapu "the Father of the Nation" and the world over as the "Great Soul," Gandhi is remembered as much for his work towards Indian Independence as for his commitment to non-violence and his belief in simple living. Born on the second of October 1869 in Porbandar, India, Gandhi studied law in London and in 1893 went to South Africa, where he spent 20 years opposing discriminatory legislation against Indians.

Australia India Institute's Distinguished Fellow Shashi Tharoor visited the Institute to launch his new book Pax Indica: India and the World of the Twenty-First Century. While here he spoke to Mark Colvin from the ABC. Listen to the interview here.

Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death and disease globally, contributing to 6 million deaths every year. With strong tobacco controllegislation enacted in developed countries, leading to reduced smoking rates, tobacco companies are targeting developing countries like India, to market their products. India is the second largest producer and consumer of tobacco with 275 million tobacco users including both smokers and smokeless tobacco (SLT) users. India is shouldering a disproportionate burden catalysed by the large number of tobacco consumers and tobacco companies' recognition of an unbridled market.

Professor Amitabh Mattoo, Director, Australia India Institute is delighted to invite you to attend the launch of Pax Indica: India and the World of the 21st Century by Author, human rights activist and member of the Indian parliament Dr. Shashi Tharoor.

Reports show a dramatic increase in visa grants to Indian students, however Australia needs to do more to show Indian Nationals we’re a country of prestigious education, says Professor Amitabh Mattoo. The Australian reported that in 2011-12, offshore grants of higher education visas from India rose 71 per cent to 3994. However this is still far shy of the 2007-08 period where Indian visa grants for university study peaked at 29,108.The rise shows negative publicity and feelings towards Australia following the 2009 attacks on Indian students is diminishing, after this is said to have caused a sharp decline in the number of Indians choosing to make Australia home. Professor Amitabh Mattoo, Director of the Australia India Institute says the numbers will continue to increase, and that this is a good thing for Australia.

Dr Mandira Kala, Emerging Leaders Fellow of the Australia India Institute (AII) spoke with the ABC about the ways in which India's parliament is still changing and evolving 60 years after its first sitting. See the ABC's website, or the Tiffin Talk Dr Kala gave on the subject.

Addressing the media earlier this week, Adm. Nirmal Verma, chief of the Indian Navy, spelt out the broad contours of India’s maritime doctrine. “From our perspective”, he said, “the primary area of interest to us is from the Malacca Strait to the Gulf in the west, and to the Cape of Good Hope in the south… The Pacific and the South China Sea are of concern to us, but activation in those areas is not on the cards.” Depending on how one sees it, the admiral’s statement is realistic or limiting. It is realistic because despite urgings from American and Australian strategic thinkers, India is reluctant to expand its ambit to the Indo-Pacific, the confluence of the eastern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific...

On August 15, Indians will celebrate 65 years of Independence from British Rule. India was under British rule for approximately 200 years, and gained sovereign powers in 1947. Indian migrants all over the country will be celebrating India's Independence Day. Many will attend flag raising ceremonies, or partake in traditional kite-flying; both symbolising the eve of Independence in 1947 when the first Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru unveiled the Indian tricolour flag on the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi. The Federation of Indian Associatons of Victoria are holding an Indian Music and Dance Festival and a Multicultural Gala Dinner sponsored by AII.

The Australian Government has commissioned a White Paper on "Australia in the Asian Century" to consider the likely economic and strategic changes in the region as the scale and pace of Asia transforms. The team at the Australia India Institute have written a submission for the Taskforce, contending that never before has there been a better time for Australia and India to actively work on their relationship and engagement...

University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor Glyn Davis has highlighted the Australia India Institute's (AII) Task Force Report Beyond the Lost Decade in his monthly staff epistle: "Australia's engagement with India presents a similar story of highs and lows, moments of serious interest and years of mislaid opportunity. Beyond the Lost Decade, a new report from the Australia India Institute, argues it is time to engage with India on diplomacy, trade, education and defence. The report team, led by AII Director Professor Amitabh Mattoo, draws on the expertise of the AII's six-member Perceptions Taskforce including former Australian diplomat John McCarthy, Indian columnist Ashok Malik and former MP and now Vice-Chancellor's Fellow Maxine McKew.

Pranab Mukherjee will be sworn in as the 13th President of the Republic of India tomorrow. The Presidency, though largely ceremonious, is a prestigious role chosen by a nationwide electoral college for a five-year term.

The Australia India Institute Task Force on Tobacco Control (the Taskforce) has been established to determine whether plain packaging legislation for all types of tobacco products is a viable tobacco control measure in India. The Task Force is funded and supported by the Australia India Institute and is composed of experts in the field from both countries. The Task Force presented a summary of tobacco control’s short history and the significance of plain packaging at the Australia India Institute's Asian Century conference in Kolkata on December 6th, 2011.

The Australia India Institute has been invited to make a submission to the Australian Government advisory panel for the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper. The Institute is running a consultation session in early February 2012 with Dr Ken Henry AC, head of the task force, focusing on economic, social and political strategy.

Professor the Hon Gareth Evans AO QC, Chancellor of The Australian National University, Professorial Fellow at The University of Melbourne and former Australian Foreign Minister gave the Keynote Lecture at the Australia India Institute and University of Calcutta Conference The Asian Century – Security, Sustainability and Society: An India Australia Dialogue, Kolkata, 5 December 2011.

On Friday 28th October, the Australia India Institute hosted the India Studies Workshop. The aim was to create a nation-wide scan of the current state of Indian Studies in Australian universities, to develop an understanding of the issues facing Indian Studies in Australian universities, explore challenges and opportunities, and generate a new narrative to frame and promote Indian Studies in the coming years.

Listen to an interview with Aditi Verma, a Delhi University student who recently visited Melbourne. Please note the interview is in Hindi. Ten Delhi University students recently visited the Australia India Institute and the University of Melbourne as part of a Young Leaders program, designed to engage talented students with opportunities and challenges of global citizenship through a dedicated program developed by the Australia India Institute.

Professor of Literature Alok Rai visited Australia as a speaker at the recent Australia India Institute Reluctant Superpower conference. Here he discusses the many roles played by the English language in contemporary India - as an instrument of mobility, a marker of privilege, a badge of identity and as a forge of a new caste system. With host Jennifer Cook.

Rory Medcalf, a Fellow at the Australia India Institute, is a contributing author in the 2011-12 edition of the authoritative Strategic Asia series of books, to be published by the US National Bureau of Asian Research in September 2011. His chapter provides the first parallel analysis of Australia’s relations with China and India in the new Asian strategic environment, and identifies the contours of an Australian strategy for dealing with the rising Asian giants.

Listen to Australia India Institute Fellow Dr Pradeep Taneja and journalist Pramit Chaudhuri discuss Anna Hazare with host Philip Adams in the program titled: The New Gandhi of India?

Listen to the ABC Saturday Extras Series on India.

The latest edition of Asian Currents e-newsletter is out and features an interview with Professor Amitabh Mattoo, Director of the Australia India Institute where he outlines his vision for the future of the Institute.

Read Asian Currents

Australia and India: the Evolving Relationship in this Asia-Pacific Century Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, editor Hindustan Times
Listen to Pramit Chaudhuri's lecture

The Australia India Institute welcomes its International Advisory Committee to Melbourne in December. The International Advisory Committee (IAC) provides timely and strategic advice to the Australia India Institute. It assists the Institute in planning for its future and on the implementation of these plans.The IAC consists of a Chair and three other committee members.

The Australia India Institute and the Melbourne International Film Festival are proud to present a series of Indian films in this year's festival under the title of Not Quite Bollywood. These cutting-edge realistic Indian films present a different view of contemporary Indian culture and show that there is much more going on in the Indian film world than just the very famous Bollywood films.

Winding through the Indian countryside for several weeks on a train with 400 young people visiting innovative and successful social sector organisations was the summer holiday experience of two University of Melbourne students. Commerce students Annabelle Davis, a Kwong Lee Dow scholar, and Jeff Li, an international student, were among the first overseas students to undertake this organised journey around India which has only been run three times.

Read about Pradip Krishen, the initial Visting Fellow of the Australia India Institute and his groundbreaking project in West Rajasthan.

Legendary actor and producer Aamir Kahn was a special guest of the 2010 Melbourne International Film Festival. He presented Peepli Live, a film which he produced, to a large audience at the Regent Theatre. Audience members rushed to the stage when he appeared. After the film Aamir Khan answered a series of questions as MIFF volunteers moved around the theatre with microphones. Peepli Live was part of the Not Quite Bollywood section of the festival sponsored by the Australia India Institute and Victoria University sponsored Aamir Khan's visit to Australia.

2012 has been a significant year for the Aii, but also for the Australia-India relationship. The two countries are moving towards a closer partnership, aided by measures undertaken by both governments and other institutions. A signal of the improving ties between the two democracies was Julia Gillard’s first visit to India as Prime Minister, where tensions in the Australia-India relationship, such as Australia earlier refusal to sell uranium to India, were resolved. Talks on a nuclear safeguards agreement have begun.

Ten more of India’s brightest students will work on their PhD studies at a Victorian institution thanks to the 2013 Victoria India Doctoral Scholarships program, the Minister for Innovation, Services and Small Business, Louise Asher announced today in India. These scholarships valued at $90,000 each, give Indian doctoral students the opportunity to work with top Victorian researchers and supervisors, use cutting edge research infrastructure and facilities, and enjoy a welcoming lifestyle in a cosmopolitan community. The Doctoral Scholarships program, now in its second year, is funded by the Victorian Government and managed by the Australia India Institute. Ms Asher said the program allowed India and Victoria to share knowledge and best practice, drive new research and help equip students with the skills needed for future innovation and economic growth.

The Department of Political Science of the University of Hyderabad and the Centre for Citizenship and Globalisation at Deakin University are holdin