By IRNA,
New Delhi : India and Australia signed a major education deal to expand partnership in the sector.
The deal was signed as Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal met Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard in Melbourne Thursday evening.
Under the deal, the two sides agreed to set up a joint education council and to extend exchanges in the field of education.
A Joint Ministerial Statement said India and Australia are at an exciting time in their relationship and people-to-people contacts are at the heart of the bilateral relationship.
Sibal and Gillard, who is also Australia’s education minister, said their governments attached high priority to the safety and well being of students as they played an important role in the knowledge partnership envisaged between the two countries.
Over 100 cases of attacks on Indians were reported last year in Australia, including the murder of 21-year-old Nitin Garg, straining ties between the two countries.
The impact of the attacks was visible as the number of Indians seeking admissions to Australian institutes plummeted last year, from 6303 to 3761, a 40 per cent decline as compared to the previous year.
They also led to the Indian government issuing a travel advisory asking students to exercise caution while in Australia, and were followed by a flurry of high-profile visits by Australian dignitaries, including Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, to India.