Is The India-Australia Relationship Hotting Up?

Until June 2019, the Indian cricket team had only beaten Australia in a 50 Over World Cup match once this century. Since June, we can say it’s twice. Cricket may not define a nation but there is no doubt that India’s star is rising. The question is, when it comes to other aspects of Australia-India relations are both sides on the ball?

In about 15 years’ time, India will be the most populous nation on earth, overtaking China whose population will reach its peak at just under 1.5 billion around 2030. In contrast, the Indian population is expected to peak closer to 2060 at something over 1.6 billion. With such  population growth, it’s a good thing that India is currently the fastest growing economy, according to OECD data. Real GDP growth is expected to be 7.2% this year and per capita incomes are rising fast.

From Australia’s point of view there is clearly a lot of potential in this relationship. Australia and India don’t just share a love of cricket. There is also the Commonwealth and a history of colonialism. They have a common democratic system and a common judicial system, not to mention the widespread use of English as a lingua franca in India. It should be no surprise that Australia has seen growing numbers of Indians move to the country, and India is now ranked fourth as an origin for those living in Australia but born outside. There are almost as many people of Indian heritage - 455,000 – living in Australia as there are those of Chinese origin.

But, when it comes to connecting the two countries with air services, the Indian relationship appears to be a substantial way behind that with China.

Looking at visitor numbers first, there are almost four times as many Chinese visitors to Australia as Indian visitors – 1.4 million Chinese vs 364,000 Indian visitors. While the good news may be that the number of Indian visitors is growing much faster, at 15% compared to just 2.5% for Chinese visitors, the visitor profile is very different. Travel to visit friends and relatives (VFR) makes up over half of all Indian visits to Australia, compared to 19% for Chinese visitors. In absolute terms, the number of VFR travellers from China is 40% higher but is a figure dwarfed by the very large number of holiday makers from China which now make up over half of all visitors from China. Australia has also succeeded in attracting a 
substantial number of students from China and they make up a further 19% of visitors.

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