Gandhinagar, Nov 6: Union Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan co-chaired the 1st Australia India Education and Skill Council (AIESC) meeting with Australian Ministers Jason Clare, MP, Education Minister and Brendan O'Connor, Skills & Training Minister in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on Monday.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister Pradhan said the inaugural AIESC meeting will act as a catalyst in charting new roadmaps for building stronger knowledge bridges, advancing  mutual priorities in education and skill development, boosting people-to-people linkages and establishing the knowledge vertical as one of the strongest pillars of India-Australia ties.

Shared values, entwined destinies!

The inaugural Australia-India Education and Skills Council meeting will act as a catalyst in charting new roadmaps for building stronger knowledge bridges, advancing mutual priorities in education and skill development, boosting… pic.twitter.com/feFjrKuojg

— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) November 6, 2023

During the meeting, Pradhan highlighted 2023 as a landmark year for Australia and India, particularly for cooperation in the areas of education and skill development.

The Minister further said that education and skills as a primary and priority area of the bilateral engagements between the two countries reflects PM Narendra Modi’s and Australian PM Anthony Albanese’s  commitment to strengthening knowledge bridges.

The AIESC, earlier the Australian India Education Council (AIEC), is a bi-national body established in 2011 to guide the strategic direction of the education, training and research partnerships between the two countries.

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Pradhan also informed that as many as five MoUs between Australian and Indian HEIs have been exchanged today to facilitate greater research collaborations in areas like, agriculture, water management, critical minerals, healthcare, AI, renewable energy and climate change. This is going to create more opportunities for advancing educational, research and innovation priorities, student and faculty exchanges, more twinning programs or dual degrees, he added.