Melbourne: Union Education Minister who is on a four day visit to Australia participated in 'Dialogue with Group of Eight' which is a research collaboration between India and Australia at University House in Melbourne today.

Taking to Twitter, the Ministry of Education tweeted, "Today, Hon'ble Education Minister Shri @dpradhanbjp participates in 'Dialogue with Group of Eight: Building successful Australia-India research collaboration' at University House, Melbourne."

On Tuesday he participated in the 'VET: Policy Dialogue on Developing Skills for the Future' at Kangan Institute, Docklands, Melbourne with Craig Robertson, CEO, Victorian Skills Authority, Sally Curtain, CEO, Bendigo Kangan Institute and leaders of the Australian skilling ecosystem.

Ministry of Education in a statement said that discussions centred around the potential of deploying Australian Skill Standards and Certification frameworks in India to equip youth with skills of the future, connect them with employment and improve skilling outcomes, strengthen industry & academia linkages and provide an agile response to skilling needs.

The Union Education Minister has embarked on a four-day visit to Australia during which he will hold interactions to broaden engagement between the two countries in areas of learning, skilling, research, innovation and entrepreneurship.

During the visit, Pradhan will co-chair the sixth meeting of the Australia-India Education Council with Australian counterpart Jason Clare. In a statement prior to his departure, Pradhan said that reforms in India's education sector and the renewed vigour in India-Australia relations open up immense opportunities for both sides to "establish the knowledge economy as a key pillar of our cooperation".

The India-Australia bilateral relationship has undergone an evolution in recent years, developing along a positive track, into a strategic partnership. The two nations have much in common, underpinned by shared values, expanding economic engagement and increasing high-level interaction.

The long-standing people-to-people ties, ever-increasing Indian students coming to Australia for higher education, and growing tourism and sporting links have played a significant role in further strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.