The high-level delegation is participating in a Legal Education Roundtable, jointly arranged by the Law Council, the Council of Australian Law Deans (CALD) and the Attorney-General's International Legal Services Advisory Council (ILSAC).

Held at the Australian National University, the Roundtable will allow Indian and Australian lawyers to discuss matters of mutual interest relating to legal education.

According to the Law Council, one of the primary aims of the delegation's visit is to promote understanding of legal education, pinpoint issues existing between the Bar Council of India and Australian educational institutions, and seek formal recognition by the Bar Council of India of degrees gained from seven Australian law schools.

It is also hoped the visit will facilitate the exchange of views in relation to professional standards and practice, cross-border legal practice, foreign lawyers and other legal issues.

The delegation is being led by the Bar Council of India's chairman and Solicitor-General of India, Gopal Subramanium, and Law Council president Glenn Ferguson said he was honoured to welcome the delegation to Australia.

"The Bar Council of India and the Law Council share many common goals including a shared interest in and desire for improving the quality of legal education - and that is largely why we are here today," he said.

The Bar Council's visit is jointly sponsored by CALD, ILSAC, the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWRR) and the Australia-India Council (AIC).

"The partnership between the legal profession, CALD and the Federal Government demonstrates the importance of study visits like this one," said Ferguson.

"The visit by the Bar Council and high-ranking Indian Government officials is made more important by the recent release of the Australia-India Free Trade Agreement Joint Feasibility Study."

The delegation intends to visit the Law Council tomorrow, followed by meetings across the country with members of the judiciary, government and academia, and will also attend a Legal Services Roundtable in Sydney on 22 June.