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I have just had a meeting with the Chief Minister, which has rounded out what has been a fascinating and productive two days here in Hyderabad. My first visit to Hyderabad, but it will not be the last by an Australian Government Minister. Of course, I have been in India to advance the Free Trade Agreement between our two countries, but the key thing on these visits is to not just visit Delhi and Mumbai, but to come and look at the dynamic regions of India, to not wait for the finalisation of a Free Trade Agreement to look for the strengthening of commercial relationships in areas in which we can undertake cooperation. The thing that has struck us about Hyderabad is the dynamism in the economy, starting with the wonderful new airport but also understanding the great work it is doing in biosciences, in agriculture, in manufacturing, and in services, and so the forum that we had this afternoon with the Confederation of Indian Industry was also an important opportunity to talk about strengthening those commercial relationships.

So, in the meeting with the Chief Minister, we were not only able to reflect upon the opportunities at the commercial level, but to reinforce the point that we can reach agreements with regional governments to set frameworks that facilitate these, and we talked about cooperation in agriculture, in water management, in clean energy, in infrastructure building, in the services economy and, of course, in the strengthened promotion of education and the students that come to Australia. We also had a very detailed discussion with the Chief Minister about progress that we have made in the wake of the violence against Indian students over the last part of last year. We briefed him fully on the steps that have been taken in Australia to underscore and reinforce the importance of ensuring the students that come to Australia come in a safe, secure environment. I have assured the Chief Minister that we will continue to do everything possible to underscore the safety, not just important for the students themselves who come, but terribly important for the parents who make the effort to send their students. We did agree that strengthening the movement of students was also an important area to continue to work upon and that the student-to-student exchanges, the people-to-people exchanges are really important in raising the awareness and understanding. So, I am delighted that I have been here. I have had really good meetings. I am delighted that the Chief Minister sees the importance of the relationship and we look forward going into the future to strengthen relations between Australia and Andhra Pradesh. Thank you very much.

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