New Delhi: The Third India–Australia Education and Skills Council (AIESC) meeting was held on Monday in New Delhi in the presence of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Australian Education Minister Jason Clare. Australian Minister for Skills and Training Andrew Giles, Assistant Minister for International Education Julian Hill and several members of the Australian delegation also participated in the high-level meeting.
The meeting marked a major step forward in strengthening the education and skills partnership between India and Australia. According to the Ministry, the AIESC has created new opportunities for Indian youth and has further deepened cooperation across all areas of education, skill development and research between the two countries.
A significant announcement emerged from the meeting. One of Australia’s leading global universities, the University of New South Wales (UNSW), which features among the top 20 in the QS World University Rankings, will establish a branch campus in India. Dharmendra Pradhan and Australian Education Minister Jason Clare jointly presented a Letter of Intent (LOI) to UNSW, marking a key step in expanding the India–Australia knowledge partnership. Shri Pradhan welcomed the initiative and congratulated UNSW for its interest in India.
Speaking at the meeting, Shri Pradhan said that education, skills and research remain the core pillars of the India–Australia Strategic Partnership. Both countries reaffirmed their commitment to working together in several priority sectors. These include early childhood care and education, adoption of modern technology, institutional capacity building, teacher empowerment and preparing youth for emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, advanced materials, semiconductors, medtech, energy and sustainability.
The discussions also covered sports education, new skill partnership programs and the joint development of cutting-edge research frameworks. Both sides agreed to ensure the effective implementation of the decisions taken at the forum, aiming to strengthen cooperation from school education to higher education and skill development.
Earlier in the day, Dharmendra Pradhan held a bilateral meeting with the Australian Minister for Education, followed by a joint press conference. The ministers reviewed the expanding collaboration between the two countries in education, innovation and research and discussed ways to strengthen the partnership from the preschool level to PhD programmes. Shri Pradhan emphasised that India’s priority is to build critical thinking among students and prepare an AI-ready generation. Both sides expressed confidence that the partnership will scale to new heights in the coming years.
Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Minister of State for Education Jayant Chaudhary also attended the meeting.
