THE SECRET OF LOVE, according to the pop diva Cher in her ‘Shoop Shoop Song’, is “in his kiss”. But in the diplomatic world, it is the playlist. At the banquet for Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Delhi, in the midst of the background score of the Mahatma’s favourite bhajan ‘Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram’, were two songs from the Aussie pop bands The Triffids and The Go-Betweens. Their biggest hits—unsurprisingly, both heartbreak songs—were strummed for a blossoming romance between India and Australia.
For Albanese, it was personal. The Triffids features on the top of his playlist. He played ‘Wide Open Road’—the song chosen for the banquet—on loop as a young man as he drove with his girlfriend to Perth to watch the band perform. Two and a half months after the Economic Cooperation Trade Agreement between India and Australia came into force on December 29, Albanese flew to India to convey his commitment to the deal.
Trade is certainly a game-changer. While the strategic shift towards the Indo-Pacific was visible in the past few years, the trade agreement has set the tone for a deeper commitment. Albanese’s three-day visit was very much a display of his intentions and of how important India has become—he played Holi, visited IIT Delhi and travelled to Mumbai with 25 CEOs to attend the first India-Australia CEO conference. At a function in Mumbai, Australian minister for trade and tourism Don Farrell said that $2.5 billion worth of trade benefitted from the lower tariffs under the ECTA.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 26, 2023 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 26, 2023 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Stop ruling; start governing
In every election the voters elect a government.
HEALING THE EARTH
Land Restoration for a Drought-Resilient Future
Speak of the nawab
For Heeramandi's male lead, Taha Shah, the road to success was paved with flops
Northern delights
Four Kashmiri fashion labels that want to put the troubled region on the international style map
WOOING THE WAVES
India is developing strategic ports overseas and is exploring new oceanic trade routes to pursue its growing geopolitical objectives
TIPU, SULTAN!
In his first major election after the death of Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh humbles the BJP and proves he is his own man
A SLEEPER HIT
Naidu’s stunning victory raises questions about the vote-catching power of welfare schemes
SWEEPING LOSS
AAP’s disappointing performance has put a question mark on its relevance in the INDIA bloc
INDEPENDENTS' DAY
The Lok Sabha results in Baramulla and Ladakh reflect a churning among voters
Voters have changed, and we have benefited
In March 2022, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu asked a quirky question to actor-MP Suresh Gopi, who had come to the Rajya Sabha with a distinctive look.
