With the Adani Group's USD 16 billion investment in a limbo due to opposition from environmental groups, Australia's High Commissioner to India Harinder Sidhu today said her country will be amending some laws to overcome such issues.
"We have strict environmental laws and frankly, very proud of how well we protect our environment. Green groups...In a democracy there is not enough you can do to stop legitimate interests being expressed," she said during an interactive session hosted by the Asia Society this evening.
Without naming the Adanis, Sidhu said her country is very supportive of investments in resources and is "streamlining" laws to ensure such investment proposals succeed.
"We have taken some lessons from some of these investments and are trying to look at streamlining our legislations so that these issues don't occur again or the chance of these issues occurring is smaller," Sidhu, who was appointed as the High Commissioner last month, said.
Her comments come in the light of troubles faced by the Adanis over last five years to develop a coal mine in Queensland and lay a rail line to get the commodity to coast at a cost of USD 16.5 billion.
Activists allege that it will impact the Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef.
Stating that India and Australia have to deepen their ties, she said a free trade agreement is under discussion at government level, and once both parties come to the table, it will take only eight weeks to seal the pact.
Stressing the need for FTA, she said at present coal and gold constitute 70 per cent of Australian exports to India, which needs to change with a greater share of services, which the pact can ensure.
Sidhu, however, rued that though efforts have been taken to ease the doing business in India in the last two years, the country is still perceived as a difficult and an uncertain market by Australian businesses and asked for an environment of certainty, transparency and regulatory simplicity.
"There is a great deal of interest (to invest), but there needs to be the confidence," she said.
She congratulated India for preventing its citizens from joining the Islamic State and added that her country would like to learn from the experience. "India has found ways to tackle radicalisation. We would like to learn from you on how you manage communities."
On climate change, she said Australia has decided to be pragmatic and not to lead the efforts as in the past.
