Speaking at the Fourth Australia-India Roundtable, organised jointly by the Australia India Institute, University of Melbourne, Lowy Institute for International Policy in partnership with Observer Research Foundation with support from the Public Diplomacy Division of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, here on Tuesday the Australian Minister for Energy, Tourism and Resources, Martin Ferguson said “the formula for negotiations for the sale of uranium to India will be developed in due time.”

“Australia, having taken the symbolic decision on the sale of uranium to India in December last year, other negotiations will be developed in future,” he said and added that the India-US nuclear agreement would be central to the Australian decision on the issue.

The Australian Minister, who has started an energy dialogue with the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India Montek Singh Ahluwalia said energy being a primary issue in the Australia-India relations also.

During the two-day Roundtable, representatives from diverse backgrounds will brain-storm over six technical sessions, namely, energy security and cooperation, strategic assessment of India-Pacific, economic overview, role of cities and states in creating external linkages, maritime security and new frameworks of governance and diplomacy.

Ferguson called upon Indian businessmen to invest in the fast developing energy sector in Australia which is poised to become the largest exporter of LNG in the world. He said Australia will have an export capacity of 20-25 million tonnes by early next year and will reach 70-80 million tonnes, becoming the largest exporter.

He said Petronet has arrived at a long term purchase agreement with Australia for 1.5 million tonne of LNG.

“It is a good opportunity for Indian businessmen to invest in Australian energy markets,” the Australian Minister said.

Ferguson said India businessmen have also good opportunity to invest in technology to reduce carbon remission from coal since fossil fuel will continue to play a major role in the next 40-50 years at least.

Australia and India can also cooperate on the renewable energy, with focus on solar and wind power, he said.

The ORF Director, Sunjoy Joshi said there is a greater possibility of integrated energy market in Asia in the next 5-10 years. He said Indian businessmen are already making huge investments outside India. He pointed out the Indian investment in the US, with interests in other markets. But he noted that investments will always be market-related.

Ferguson also met the Indian Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dr Veerappa Moily who stressed the need for more tie-ups between oil companies of India and Australia to meet Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) requirements of India.

Dr Moily also discussed the possibilities of enhancing mutual cooperation, in hydrocarbon sector, with Ferguson. In view of Australia augmenting its LNG supply capacity and rising demand for natural gas & up-coming LNG import facilities in India, the two leaders felt that this area offers tremendous opportunity to forge mutually beneficial tie-ups. Oil & gas currently account for 22% and 9 % respectively of India’s energy mix. The share of gas is expected to reach 20 % by 2025.

Ferguson also flagged the issues facing Australian companies operating in the up-stream chain of hydrocarbon sector. Indian side assured of actively pursuing resolution of those issues.

Ferguson met the Indian Minister of State for Power, Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia.

Ferguson also met the Indian Tourism Minister K.Chiranjeevi and urged for direct air connectivity between India and Australia to boost tourism. Both the Ministers also expressed their resolve to strengthen bilateral tourism cooperation.

Referring to the recent road shows organized by India Tourism in Australia, Chiranjeevi expressed the hope that such shows will contribute to more tourist inflow from Australia. The Indian Ministry of Tourism in association with Indian Association of Tour Operators organized road shows in Sydney and Melbourne in October this year. India also hosted the visit of tour operators, travel agents, opinion makers, TV team, travel writers, etc. from Australia numbering 35 in 2011-12 and 16 till date during 2012-13 on familiarisation tour of India under its hospitality scheme.

Chiranjeevi suggested creation of a joint Tourism Forum where tour operators, hoteliers, airlines and other tourism stakeholders from both the countries may exchange the ideas for promotion and development of tourism between both the countries. He expressed the views that both the countries should explore the possibilities of renewing the MoU on tourism cooperation which expired in 2008. He also suggested easing of visa norms to boost tourism.

India tourism Office in Sydney looks after promotion and marketing of India in Australia. Overall the marketing efforts have been directed at re-enforcing the brand and creating year round traffic. India Tourism office regularly undertake comprehensive promotion, developing partnership with airlines, the travel industry, media, community groups and Government.

India and Australia are important tourism markets for each other. Australia is one of top 10 tourist generating markets for India as far as inbound tourism is concerned. Number of Australian tourists to India increased from 135925 in 2007 to 186002 in 2011.