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What's drawing so many Indians to Australia?


Rohit Singh speaks in an accent that's markedly different from his mother's.

He's a second-generation Indian immigrant living in Mornington Peninsula, a beachy cape that's about an hour's drive from Melbourne.


Over the past two years, he has been helping his parents run Avani, a boutique winery they founded after migrating to Australia in the 1990s.


Mr Singh says that in the past decade, the South Asian community in Melbourne has burgeoned, so Avani has started hosting wine pairing events that spotlight Indian dishes - meen pollichathu (a baked fish recipe from southern India) is served with Pinot Gris; dal makhani (a slow-cooked, creamy black lentil dish) is paired with a Pinot Noir.


The chefs and restaurateurs behind these experiments are among more than 710,000 Indians who live in Australia, one of the world's biggest "immigrant nations". Their numbers have been increasing rapidly over the past few years - according to the country's last census, Indians are now the second-largest migrant group in Australia, having overtaken the Chinese and second only to the English. The new wave of Indian immigrants has largely been driven by the tech sector, as the country has a high demand for skilled workers.


  • Census reveals how Australia is changing


Aarti Betigeri, a journalist who is currently editing an anthology on the experiences of Indians growing up in Australia, says that when her parents moved there in the 1960s, Indians were hardly a part of public life. "It was rare to find another Indian on the street," she says.


Today, things are different. "They're in jobs across sectors, run their own businesses and are even entering politics," she says.


The recently-elected New South Wales government has four Indian-origin politicians, including Daniel Mookhey, who in March became the first politician of Indian origin to become the treasurer of an Australian state. There is still a long way to go, though - Indian-Australians, along with others with a non-European lineage, are still underrepresented in politics, especially at the federal level.


Ms Betigeri says that soft power exports have played a powerful role in uniting the two countries. At a recent rally in Sydney - which was attended by thousands from the Indian diaspora - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about how the TV show MasterChef Australia, cricket and films were bringing people together.


Experts say that his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, which has been in power in India since 2014, has played a key role in strengthening bilateral ties. Mr Modi's visit to Australia in November 2014 was the first by an Indian prime minister in nearly three decades.


During his recent visit to Sydney in May, the two countries announced a migration deal to make it easier for students, academics and professionals to travel and work in India and Australia. They also restated their commitment to concluding a comprehensive economic co-operation deal - which is set to build on the outcomes of an agreement signed last April.


In March, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid his first official visit to India since entering office, and the two prime ministers discussed defence and security, economic co-operation, education and bilateral trade.


"The frequent meeting of the prime ministers and ministers has deepened bilateral ties that was not seen in earlier days," says Pradeep S Mehta, who works at CUTS International, a global public policy research and advocacy group.


Observers say that this partnership is being seen as beneficial to both nations, who are also part of the four-member Quad grouping aimed at constraining China's dominance in the Indo-Pacific region.


Read more at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-65889047.amp




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