PRIME MINISTER: Today is a very busy day, where I’ll be here in Ahmedabad, then to Mumbai, and then to Delhi. It's a day of three parts as well, a day where we begin by celebrating the cultural links between Australia and India with a visit for the opening of the fourth cricket test, which is celebrating as well 75 years of test cricket between Australia and India, going back to when Donald Bradman was the captain of the first Australian cricket team at that time. And it will be a real opportunity for, once again, to cement those relations. I know so many Australians have travelled to India, just like so many back home will be watching on TV, cheering on the Australian cricket team during this test. It's also a day for business. We have a significant business delegation in Mumbai engaging with their Indian counterparts across the finance, across resources, across clean energy, across universities, and information technology, across the full gamut of service provision as well, including health service provision. And it's very important that we cement those ties even further. Towards the end of this year, I'm looking forward to an upgrade in the economic relationship between Australia and India, and I'll be having discussions with Prime Minister Modi about that today. Already this morning, I've met with 34 smart energy companies who are here from Australia, providing significant investment, seizing the opportunity that is there. One of the things that we discussed was the fact that there's a lot of investment ready as well in Australia to build solar panels in Australia. And I'm very pleased that the National Reconstruction Fund legislation passed the House of Representatives a short time ago. They're the sort of measures that we need in place, measures that drive our economy towards clean energy, measures that then take advantage of cleaner, cheaper energy to make more things in Australia. And that is why we also want to then train Australians for those jobs through fee-free TAFE, through 20,000 additional university places, through 10,000, $10,000 New Energy Apprenticeships that we've announced as well. This is a coherent economic plan for Australia's economic future. That is very important. And the third element of the visit is, of course, defence and security. And I will be boarding the first-ever significant naval ship built here in India, in Mumbai later today. We will be hosting the Malabar operations in Australia for the first time later this year and talking about our security in the Indo-Pacific is an important focus of our relationship. These are all important. This visit to India, we are being very well received. It's a great honour that I'll be spending so much time with Prime Minister Modi and other ministers today and tomorrow, and, indeed, this evening as well. The Australian business delegation will be travelling from Mumbai to Delhi with me. These are serious CEOs of major Australian companies, showing how seriously Australia takes the relationship with India going forward.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you mentioned the aircraft carrier, which will be a demonstration of the importance of naval power. Now, at the same time there are reports that Australia is going to choose five Virginia Class submarines from the United States. Does this mean that, in order to build up the power that we need under AUKUS, not all of these submarines can actually be built in Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll be making further comments about specific proposals at the appropriate time. But I can confirm that on Monday there will be a meeting of the AUKUS partners, between myself, President Biden, and Prime Minister Sunak. In addition, in the United States, I will be having bilateral meetings with President Biden and Prime Minister Sunak. I look forward to announcing those details. They will be announced in the appropriate way, on Monday, US time, in San Diego.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on a key matter of principle, though, can you provide an assurance that Australia will retain full operational control of new nuclear submarines, or could they be commanded by Americans, and joint decisions over their use, essentially shared sovereignty?
PRIME MINISTER: Australia will retain, absolutely our sovereignty, our absolute sovereignty, 100%. It is very important that, Australia as a sovereign nation state, and that's something that's respected by all of our partners as well.
JOURNALIST: What about the timeframe, Prime Minister we hear about the submarines coming in the 2030s. We hear from senior American officials, military officials, about the risk of conflict over Taiwan in the next few years, how do we reconcile that?
PRIME MINISTER: I’ll be making comments at the appropriate time when we've made the announcements. This is a joint arrangement between Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. We're great friends, we have over a century of standing side by side during peacetime and during conflict, and I look forward to the announcements next week.
JOURNALIST: Just quickly on India, how have you felt, there's hundreds of billboards with your face on them around the streets here.
PRIME MINISTER: It is hard to not have noticed them, yes.
JOURNALIST: And you're going to the cricket with Prime Minister Modi, who’s a very popular figure, obviously. Do you think you'll be the best-known Prime Minister of Australia in India?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's for others to judge. But certainly, I'm very honoured - not for myself, for Australia. It says how valued the relationship with Australia is that the Government of India and Prime Minister Modi have put such a major effort into making us feel so welcome. Thanks.