An Asian Century

Declaring that Asia’s rise is “unstoppable”, Australia has unveiled an ambitious plan aimed at forging deeper links with India and other booming economies of the region, including teaching languages like Hindi and Mandarin in its schools.
“While Australia was changing, Asia was changing too. Whatever else this century brings, it will bring Asia’s return to global leadership, Asia’s rise,” said Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who was recently on her maiden official visit to India.
“This (Asia’s rise) is not only unstoppable, it is gathering pace,” Gillard said, releasing a sweeping policy blueprint entitled ‘Asian Century White Paper’ aimed at maximizing links with Asia which will power Australia into the world’s top 10 wealthiest nations by 2025.
Above all, success for an open Australia in a middle-class Asia starts in the classrooms, training centres and lecture theatres of this nation, the Prime Minister said.
All Australian schools will engage with at least one school in Asia to support the teaching of a priority Asian language — Mandarin, Hindi, Indonesian or Japanese, she said.
Gillard also mentioned that Australia was a friend to all countries. “We are supporting the stabilizing presence of the United States, a strong Defence Force, building habits of trust and cooperation in our region.We have an ally in Washington, respect in Beijing and more, an open door in Jakarta and Delhi, Tokyo and Seoul.”