The inaugural Australia India Sports Bridge™ 2026 Business Roundtable and Conference, an initiative by Sapphire Links Global, was hosted at the Consulate General of India in Sydney. It brought together stakeholders from government, sporting organisations, business, academia and industry to explore opportunities for deeper Australia–India collaboration through sport.
The event launched the Australia India Sports Bridge to facilitate partnerships across sport, technology, education, investment and community engagement.
Moderated by Grame Barty, the conference featured discussions with representatives from across Australia’s sporting and business landscape. Participants included Dr S. Janakiraman, Consul General of India in Sydney; Nirav Sutaria, Head of Chancery, Consulate General of India, Sydney; Chris Mooney from the Australia India Chamber of Commerce (AICC); Ramanpreet Wadhwa, Founder of Sapphire Links Global; Annelise Young from the Centre for India Australia Relations (CAIR); Professor Brian Stoddart, former Vice-Chancellor of La Trobe University; Jaldeep Virani from Tata Consultancy Services; Richard Ostroff from Cricket Australia; Sheba Nandkeolyar, Founder and CEO of MultiConnexions; Alex Brown from Rugby Australia; Gabbi Stubbs from Netball Australia; Harshvendra Soin from Tech Mahindra; Anshu Chaudhary from JLL; Darshak Mehta OAM; and Tim Harcourt, among others.
The Australia India Sports Bridge was launched with the support of the India Australia Women in Business Dialogue Forum (IAWBD Forum) and the Australia India Chamber of Commerce. The IAWBD Forum, an initiative of the Consulate General of India, Sydney, is convened by Valarmathy Janakiraman, with Project Director Mansi Bhattacharya and Associate Nidhi Solanki supporting its work.
Ramanpreet Wadhwa, Founder of Sapphire Links Global, outlined the vision of creating stronger connections between governments, sporting bodies, businesses and educational institutions to support new opportunities between Australia and India. The initiative focuses on areas including sports innovation, research, athlete development, sports science and commercial partnerships.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the India–Australia Roadmap for Sports Collaboration, recognising sport as an important area of cooperation within the broader Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two nations.
Participants highlighted the complementary strengths of both countries, with Australia’s expertise in high-performance sport, governance and major event delivery aligning with India’s expanding sports economy and growing investment in the sector.
Discussions covered athlete welfare, women’s participation, university partnerships, community sport and pathways for emerging athletes. Delegates also highlighted the role of sport in strengthening multicultural communities and building closer people-to-people links between Australia and India.
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