Interview with NDTV

Website search Interviewer Indian Prime Minister Modi's visit to Australia, uranium and other minerals trade, future trade agreements between Australia and India. INTERVIEWER: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has concluded his visit to Australia and he's headed towards New Zealand. This is a big moment in India's Act East policy, but also reaffirming commitment to the free and open Indo-Pacific.

There have been several big announcements, from trade to defence ties that have been announced. And joining us right now to discuss this, but a lot more in terms of energy and uranium, is Madeleine King, the Federal Minister for Resources from Australia. Thank you very much, Minister, for taking out time for NDTV.

Lovely to speak with you. And I believe you're just coming from that important and iconic meeting at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. How did that go?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Yes, thank you so much for having me on NDTV. It's a real pleasure and an honour indeed. I have just come from a great lunch that Prime Minister Albanese hosted for your Prime Minister Modi, and it was in the long room of the Melbourne Cricket Club at the MCG, which is an iconic, famous ground in both Australia and of course, India, because we've had many matches between our two great cricketing nations.

So, it was a very joyful, very happy occasion to end this great trip by Prime Minister Modi to Australia, his third trip. INTERVIEWER: Well, yes, of course, you know, I was in Australia in that iconic moment when for the first time, Prime Minister arrived in November 2014, and he received a warm reception. But what has happened today is even bigger, is even louder.

I want to come to the brass tacks, and that is the energy statement, joint statement that came in. You spoke about the joint, you know, resilient supply chains and how, you know, energy plays a very critical role, especially in terms of what has happened at the Strait of Hormuz. A great lesson for several nations.

Connectivity has been disrupted, there's economic turbulence. How do India and Australia now chart the next course when it comes to one, a free and open Indo-Pacific, but also keeping in mind that the energy supplies are not impacted? MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Indeed, it is a really vital relationship.

We share an ocean. I'm from Western Australia, which is our Australian state that borders the Indian Ocean, which we of course share with India. So, that trade between our two countries is, it should be so natural.

And up to this point, there's been less trade than there could be. And so that's why this meeting and this visit by Prime Minister Modi to Australia, his third visit to Australia, is so vitally important, so that we can, both of our countries can work together better. But especially in energy security.

Some of your viewers may be aware that the first commodity export that Australia made was coal to India in the 1790s, very long time ago for us as our first real trade and that's about energy. Today that trade is also based on coal, but now extended further into uranium now that we've got really thorough administrative agreements. And that's very important for the people of India.

For Prime Minister Modi, who has great ambitions which are to decarbonise India's economy and nuclear energy is an important part of that. And Australia as a trusted and reliable supplier of energy commodities to India, but to also the wider region and other countries there, means that we can work together for longer and even more so into the future. It's a very exciting time for the relationship.

I was really lucky to travel with our Prime Minister Albanese to India a few years ago and meet Prime Minister Modi myself. My deep honour to do that. So, to see him back in Australia again, you know, reinvigorating this relationship on the energy side of things and with critical minerals as well and rare earths.

It's a bright future together for India and Australia. I'm very much looking forward to it. INTERVIEWER: I'll come to the critical minerals part, but I have to ask you about uranium and export of uranium that has been agreed upon.

There is, you know, a nuclear deal of 2015 under which this has been done. But you know, there were attempts made back in 2010 as well and they did not fructify. But what has changed now?

What are the kind of circumstances, what are the agreements, and why do India and Australia see, you know, be on the same page on uranium now? MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, I think you hit the nail on the head earlier when you said about the disruption we've seen to energy supplies through the conflict in the Middle East and the Straits of Hormuz. So, these relationships and energy security, I think, everyone is very much more clear-eyed about the importance of these bilateral relationships in trade in energy.

For Australia's part, liquid fuel coming out of India is really important to us as well. So, it's very much a two-way street here and a cooperative and collaborative one, which is a very good thing. So, I think in some respects the world has seen a lot of destabilisation, whether that be in Europe but also now in the Middle East, that those energy supplies, those reliable supply chains have become very important to all governments and that we are making sure our relationship between India and Australia has energy security at its core is really very important.

And I think what has changed is that we are all making sure we work together better for a better future. For both our countries. INTERVIEWER: Also in critical minerals, we now know that both India and Australia are part of the Bank Silica.

India became a part earlier this year. There were meetings that were held in Washington D.C. and in Delhi in India and US came out with a statement and details of this event. Is this also in the backdrop of the disruptions and the global supply chains that have been impacted?

And what is the road ahead when it comes to critical minerals, which Australia is immensely rich in? And apart from that, resilient supply chains and critical minerals going hand in hand? MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, that's right, Australia has a very special geology.

But geology alone cannot get the critical minerals or the rare earths out of the ground. And equally they can't, you know, they can't be the end of the processing story and what we make of these really important products. So, Australia, to develop this critical minerals industry, it's at its beginning stages, needs to invest more in it.

Our government is doing that and other governments are as well. And we hope Indian companies as well join in on that quite ambitious goal of creating this alternative reliable supply chain. Right now, the market is dominated by one supplier and there are some export restrictions on those products.

So, it's important that the world has other options. And right now, because of our geology, Australia sits at a very, very good place to be able to be that other option. And really fortunately, our long background between India and Australia in trade and energy security trade, as well as the more fun things we do together, like cricket, of course, means the relationship is at a very important point where India and Australia can work together to grow those reliable supply chains in critical minerals.

Because these are the things we need for all sorts of products that people want to use, whether it be our mobile phones or our tablets, to our cars and so many more things, but also importantly in national security and defence. So, I'm really pleased and very proud that Prime Minister Modi has emphasised the role critical minerals and rare earths will play in our bilateral relationship into the future.

There is a lot we can do together. We have a great history of Indian companies investing into Australian resources sector, such as Adani into the Carmichael mine in Queensland. And we hope to see more of that investment here in Australia.

INTERVIEWER: Lastly, Minister King, you know, about the negotiations for a comprehensive trade deal between India and Australia that have been underway. Do we expect that to happen soon to be, you know, finally emerging? And also, would you confirm or at least give us some details?

Because the Prime Minister has said that a senior business delegation will be visiting India by December and there could be some possibilities of more announcements at that time. Could we expect your Prime Minister Albanese and you visiting India? MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, I would really love to be there in December myself and this is a very good announcement that was made around there being a very senior business delegation heading to India.

And really importantly, we're going to have what we call our Big Bash League. You know, our Twenty20 cricket match played in Chennai with the Melbourne Renegades and my team, the Perth Scorchers. So, I'm super excited about that.

So I hope – INTERVIEWER: We have tough competitors. MINISTER MADELEINE KING: That's right. So, hopefully I get to be there.

Obviously our BBL, it doesn't really compare to the amazing IPL, but nonetheless it's a very popular sport. But the delegation itself, the business delegation will be really important. I'm going to do my best to try and get there.

It would be terrific. I can't speak for the Prime Minister of Australia. I know he loves going to India and you know, he has great affection for the country.

He backpacked there and he talks about this all the time. So, that's a really great thing. But before we finish, if I could just mention the words of Prime Minister Modi in Melbourne last night to a crowd of 30,000 or so diaspora from India, is that India infuses the world and the Indian diaspora infuses the world and brings great light and energy to every place where the Indian community go to live.

And can I say as someone from Western Australia, we have a significant Indian community, how valuable it is to us in our country for all they put into the community, real community-minded people, when Indians move to Australia. And of course they love going home and we love their visitors coming to us as well as all the great students as well that get to study in Australia.

We think that is the really bedrock of our relationship. INTERVIEWER: Well, Minister King, hoping that this relationship will blossom and go from strength to strength. And you have a key role to play as is your Prime Minister and looking forward to host you in India soon.

Thank you very much for joining us at NDTV. MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Thank you so much. See you.

INTERVIEWER: Such a pleasure. Thanks. Bye.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: The Department of Industry, Science and Resources recognises the First Peoples of this Nation and their ongoing cultural and spiritual connections to the lands, waters, seas, skies, and communities. We Acknowledge First Nations Peoples as the Traditional Custodians and Lore Keepers of the oldest living culture and pay respects to their Elders past and present.

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