Arabic version: مينز يبدأ زيارته إلى الهند بمحطتين مجتمعية وجامعية
According to ABC News, NSW Premier Chris Minns began his first official trade mission to India with a visit to Delhi’s Asha community centre and the launch of Western Sydney University’s new India campus. He said the Indian community was “hugely important” to New South Wales’s future and that the state government’s leadership had “got their back”.
At the Asha centre, Mr Minns met young people who had grown up in poverty in Delhi and played street cricket with some of the children. He described the visit as a “humbling” experience and said the strength of character and dignity within the communities stood out, despite people doing it “incredibly tough”.
One student, 22-year-old Madhu, said she came from a south Delhi slum and would begin a master’s degree in public health at the University of Sydney next year with support from the Asha society. She said studying in Australia would change her future and her family’s future. Mr Minns said Australia needed to ensure education remained open and welcoming, noting it was New South Wales’s second-biggest export industry.
Mr Minns and Treasurer Daniel Mookhey also officially launched Western Sydney University’s campus in Uttar Pradesh. The facility, which is still under construction, is due to begin taking students in February next year, focusing on agricultural technology, sustainability and business administration. Vice-Chancellor George Williams said the university wanted the campus to be accessible to the best and brightest students in India, admitted on merit.
The report said Western Sydney University’s ability to accept overseas students at Australian campuses could be affected by proposed immigration changes. Department of Home Affairs figures showed student visas rose from 383,910 in 2017 to 528,999 this year. Professor Williams said international students contributed to sectors including aged care, health services and construction, and warned that reducing their numbers would hurt the state’s economy.
