Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, on Wednesday, April 6, said the dual degree programme under the trade agreement with Australia will aid to bring quality education to a great number of Indians and enhance collaboration between universities of the two countries.

Goyal, who was speaking from Australia while on a three-day visit, said that both sides are working on this. "There will be mutual recognition of educational qualifications and at the same time we are also looking at degrees being given jointly, let's say by IIT in India and a university in Australia or by a medical college in India and a medical college in Australia," the minister said.

The move would help students get more exposure, experience, newer skill sets, newer knowledge and will be good for students of both countries, he said. "The advantage with dual degrees is that we will help bring quality education to more and more Indians, so the cost comes down significantly, almost by half," he told PTI. He added that the move would help in recognising each other's degrees and course contents. Under the dual degree programme between the countries, students would be allowed to study for two years in Australia and for two years in India, subject to certain norms that are under discussion.

Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan said that the programme will be fantastic for both countries because “if you are an Indian student or Australian student, you will be able to do one to two years of your degree in Australia and one to two years in India. So collaboration between universities will grow”. He added, “My hope is that we will start to see dual degrees between the universities in Australia and India.” Tehan added that it will enhance collaboration at the higher education level. “So it's a really special part of the agreement,” he said.

Tehan also said that both sides have discussed yoga and ways to promote that. "One of the great things about the agreement is that yoga instructors can now come from India to Australia. We welcome that because all the therapeutic benefits that yoga brings are so great," he said.