New York, September 28, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced plans to visit India in December with a business delegation, saying the two countries’ economic partnership has significant untapped potential despite steadily deepening ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Albanese made the announcement during a discussion with former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd at the Asia Society in New York. He said the India leg would be part of his travel to the United States for the G20 Summit in Florida on December 14-15.
The visit will include a business event in Mumbai involving Australian companies, followed by a cricket event in Chennai featuring teams from Victoria and Western Australia.
“We’re doing a day event… with the Business Council of Australia with a whole lot of businesses I’ll be taking there to Mumbai,” Albanese said, describing the event as being modelled on the “G’day LA” format.
He said the trip would conclude with cricket, adding: “It will finish with, as things in India always does, with a cricket match.”
Australia and India announced in July that the opening Australian Men’s Big Bash League match would be played in Chennai in December as part of the week-long “G’Day Namaste” festival showcasing Australian business, culture and sport in India.
Albanese said Australia and India share democratic, Commonwealth, educational and sporting links, while Australian universities are expanding their presence in India. He described the broader relationship as “underutilised” and said both he and Modi were keen to strengthen the economic partnership.
“There’s a lot more we can do though. It has been underutilised, the relationship and partnership, but both PM Modi and myself are very keen on rectifying that,” he said.
The Australian leader also spoke about his personal relationship with Modi, noting that each leader had visited the other’s country twice during his tenure. Australia and India have a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership covering economic, defence, security, technology and other areas.
Recalling a large Indian diaspora gathering in Australia attended by both leaders, Albanese said Modi had asked the crowd to cheer for him, a remark that drew laughter from the audience.
Albanese also praised India’s expansion of energy access under Modi, while saying India’s growing economy and population make the country increasingly important to Australia.
Rudd described Australia’s relationship with India as having gone “from strength to strength”, while Albanese placed the partnership within Canberra’s wider Indo-Pacific engagement. Australia and India are also members of the Quad alongside Japan and the United States.
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