Harinder Sidhu to be new Australian High Commissioner to India

NEW DELHI: Australia has appointed Harinder Sidhu as its next High Commissioner to India three years after another diplomat of Indian origin, Peter Varghese, served in this key post.

Sidhu is a senior career officer with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, having served most recently as first assistant secretary of the Multilateral Policy Division. She previously served overseas in Moscow and Damascus, according to a note by the Australian foreign ministry.

Her previous roles included that of first assistant secretary in the Department of Climate Change, assistant director-general in the Office of National Assessments and senior adviser in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Sidhu will be the second High Commissioner of Indian origin in Delhi after Nadir Patel, the envoy of Canada to India.

“India is one of the most exciting places for a diplomat to be at the moment. India’s economic prospects are bright and it is becoming a more influential and active international player. The Australia-India relationship has grown substantially over the past few years and I will dedicate myself to building that relationship further,” Sidhu said ahead of assuming charge in Delhi.

Both sides of her family are from Punjab, although Sidhu was born in Singapore and settled in Australia with her family as a child.

India is one of Australia’s closest and most significant partners in the Indo-Pacific region. It is Australia’s 10th largest trading partner and bilateral trade is worth more than $20 billion. The two countries are currently negotiating a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement. Australia also has strong strategic and defence ties with India, with which it conducted the first bilateral maritime exercises in 2015. There are more than 450,000 people of Indian descent currently residing in Australia.

The two sides last year concluded administrative arrangements for supply of uranium from Australia to India following the landmark civil nuclear deal signed in 2014.