Diplomatist Magazine Diplomatist March 2019 | Page 30

SPECIAL REPORT community to hold a bachelor’s or higher degree (58 percent of the Indian-born population as compared to 22 percent of the wider community). The personal, family and household median incomes of the Indian-born population are higher than that of overseas- born, Australian-born, and other national populations. Indian-born migrants are the second-highest tax-paying diaspora after UK-born migrants – they contributed A$7.9 billion in 2011–2012 and A$11.9 billion in 2013–2014 in taxation revenue. There are numerous diaspora success stories. Veteran diplomat Peter Varghese authored ‘An India Economic Strategy to 2035 – Navigating from Potential to Delivery’, a report commissioned by former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that was released in July 2018. The strategy is an ambitious plan to transform Australia’s economic relationship with India in the next two decades. Mr Varghese, currently the Chancellor of the University of Queensland, is a former Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and a former Australian High Commissioner to India. He is a recipient of one of Australia’s highest honours, the Order of Australia. Others include the current Australian High Commissioner to India, Her Excellency Harinder Sidhu; Senator Lisa Singh, the 30 • Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 7 • Issue 3 • March 2019, Noida Labor senator for Tasmania in the federal Parliament; and Jason Sangha, the son of Punjabi immigrants who is seen by many as a future star of Australian cricket. Sangha captained the Australian team in the fi nal of the Under–19 World Cup in New Zealand on February 3, 2018, which was won by India. Dhruv Deepak Saxena, an alumnus of IIT Kanpur, is the founder-promoter of Riverina Oil and Bio Energy Pty Ltd (ROBE) in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. ROBE is a A$150 million venture, whose Wagga Wagga brand of canola oil is fast becoming a popular brand of cooking oil in India. Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of the UK-based Global Financial Group, has single-handedly revived the once- dying regional city of Whyalla in South Australia. Gupta purchased the ailing Whyalla steelworks and has unveiled plans for a A$1 billion transformation of the facility into a mega plant that would be among the biggest in the world. While the bilateral relationship is flourishing in the areas of diplomatic, strategic, defence and security cooperation, the business and socio-cultural relationship is largely diaspora-driven. This is an area where the India Economic Strategy to 2035 sees huge potential. Calling the diaspora a “national economic asset”, the strategy urges the Australian government to “harness its entrepreneurial spirit, particularly its willingness to innovate and take risks.” It sees the diaspora as “a network which can open doors, help navigate Indian business culture, enhance the community’s understanding of contemporary India and contribute to Australian public diplomacy in India.” With such an influential and rapidly growing diaspora, bilateral relations are set to fl ourish in the decades ahead.  * The author is a Communications Manager with the Australian Government and the former president of the Australia India Business Council ACT chapter. He is also a former journalist with The Canberra Times. He can be contacted on [email protected]