Harinder Sidhu assignment as Australia's High Commissioner to India

Melbourne :-Australia on Thursday announced the assignment of Harinder Sidhu as the country’s next High Commissioner to India. Sindhu, a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has been also serving as First Assistant Secretary of the Multilateral Policy Division. Before it, she has served overseas in Moscow and Damascus. “India is one of Australia’s nearest and the best partners in the Indo-Pacific region. It is our 10th largest trading partner and our two-way investment is worth over USD 20 billion,” Australian foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop said. Julie stressed that Australia would endure to push for the conclusion of a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with India, designed to take “our economic relationship to a new level.” Australia also has strong strategic and defence ties with India, conducting its first bilateral maritime exercises in 2015. There are also at least 450,000 people of Indian descent currently living in Australia and they are connected our strong education, cultural and tourism links, Julie said. Sidhu’s previous roles included 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. She got Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Economics degree from the Sydney University.