Mike Baird med rel: Premier updates Indian community on first official visit and meeting with President Modi

NSW Premier Mike Baird last night met with Indian community and business leaders in Parramatta to share details of his successful first official visit to India.

Mr Baird visited the cities of Ahmedabad, Delhi and Mumbai in January following an invitation to attend the global business summit Vibrant Gujarat by Indian President Narendra Modi.

“I was honoured to be personally invited to Gujarat during President Modi’s visit to Sydney after the G20 Leader’s Summit last November – especially as it was the first Prime Ministerial visit from India in 28 years,” Mr Baird said.

“Mr Modi congratulated the NSW Government on entering into a new Memorandum of Understanding with Gujarat, the state he led as Chief Minister before becoming Prime Minister.

“The historic agreement was signed at a meeting with the Chief Minister of Gujarat Anandiben Patel on Sunday 11 January.

“Mr Modi and I share bold infrastructure plans and the new MOU marks the start of a new chapter between NSW and Gujarat.

“As part of the MOU, a delegation of planning experts from UrbanGrowth and the Barangaroo Delivery Authority will travel to Gujarat to provide insights into sustainable urban planning as the Indian state grows and develops.

“We also have much to learn from how Gujarat is meeting the challenges of its urban growth and this MOU provides the basis for knowledge sharing, which will benefit both our state economies.

“In Delhi I met with about 200 NSW business leaders attending Australia Business Week in India to reinforce our message that NSW is open for business with India will assist businesses enter the market.

“In Mumbai I met with Chief Minister of Maharashtra to progress cooperation in the areas of water management, tourism and education as part of our Sister State relationship, established in 2012.

“Mr Modi was encouraged to hear the Baird Government considers India a priority market and has released a new India strategy, which was released on the day I departed Sydney for India.

“He commended the NSW Government for lighting up the sails of the Sydney Opera House for Deepavali last October and said it reflected the strength of the relationship between NSW and India.

“I assured Mr Modi our new India strategy aims to position NSW as a global leader in infrastructure development, and increase two-way trade between NSW and India, which stands at $1.8 billion.”