Australia keen to forge pact with Punjab in agriculture, skill development
Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 May, 2022 10:00 AM
Chandigarh, May 4 (IANS) In a bid to give fillip to bilateral trade, Australian High Commissioner Barry O'Farrell on Wednesday evinced keen interest to forge collaboration especially in the field of agriculture and skill development with Punjab on the pattern of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Responding to O'Farrell's proposal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann assured him of all cooperation and support in this regard so as to propel Punjab in the high growth trajectory by concretizing these plans of mutual interest.
A three-member Australian delegation led by O'Farrell, including Member Parliament Gurmesh Singh and Second Secretary Political Jack Taylor, called on the Chief Minister here.
Apprising Mann about the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAus ECTA), O'Farrell said it is the India's first bilateral trade agreement with a large, developed economy in 10 years, which aims to double two-way trade.
He mentioned that Australia's goal is to lift India into their top three export markets by 2035 and make it third largest outward investment destination in Asia.
Pointing out further, O'Farrell said Punjab could be immensely benefitted by forging collaboration with Australia especially in the field of agriculture and agro-industry as its progressive farmers have a proven track record of vast experience and expertise in food production.
Taking part in the deliberations, Mann said that Punjabis due to their enterprising and resilience nature have fairly contributed in the overall socio-economic development of all the major countries across the globe, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK, the US, Italy, etc.
Mann said: "Punjab has several franchises in the different parts of the world viz. there is a big Punjab in Vancouver, Toronto, Sydney, Auckland, besides a mini-Punjab in the UK".
The Chief Minister asked the visiting delegation to be in touch with his team of officers headed by his Additional Chief Secretary A. Venu Prasad, who was also present in the meeting, to fructify these proposals of mutual interest between the both sides on the ground.
Expressing gratitude to the Chief Minister, O'Farrell emphasised on the much needed synergy to boost bilateral ties for promotion of trade and business with Punjab.
He assured Mann that their team would also pro-actively engage with Punjab to further strengthen their economic cooperation.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday condemned the Congress government in Punjab for allegedly discriminating against teachers and forcing them to come to the streets, and asked state Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla not to behave in an 'arrogant' and 'dictatorial' manner and resolve the grievances of government school teachers immediately.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal on Thursday demanded a high court monitored probe into the manner in which the Congress government in Punjab was playing with the people's lives by creating an artificial shortage of vaccines by selling vaccine doses at a hefty profit to private hospitals.
The electronic conversation took place as US President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that India will receive Covid vaccines directly from the US stockpile, the White House said.
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General M.M. Naravane, reached Kashmir on Wednesday on a two-day visit to review the prevailing security situation in the Union Territory (UT), the army said in a statement.
"There have been several unfounded media reports that have peddled misinformation among the masses regarding this exercise of national importance," a ministry statement said, adding that the total number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country so far stand at 21,85,46,667.
The Congress said that it was "appropriate for our initial statement to note that the intrusion by Israeli forces into the Holy Al Aqsa mosque during Ramzan prayers had ruptured the delicate peace in the region".
