Risk v reward: Was the NSW premier's trade mission to India worth it?

There was a moment on the streets of Mumbai this week when New South Wales Premier Chris Minns probably wanted to be somewhere else.

As he was squinting into a pair of virtual reality goggles for a photo opportunity, police in Sydney were building a clearer picture of the gang violence which had shocked the city.

The murders of Marco Tapia and Joshua MacDonald both appeared to be cases of mistaken identity, marking a new escalation in the city's gangland war.

In the hours that followed, the premier withdrew from a planned media appearance as part of his trade mission to India.

Rather than being photographed enjoying saffron-infused rice pudding as part of a scheduled food tour, he wisely left that task to his wife Anna and Treasurer Daniel Mookhey.

Instead, he used the time to get a briefing on the situation from NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon.

The decision was a symptom of his own nagging sense of discomfort at leaving the state on a week-long trip like this one.

Part of that comes from past experience.

But some of it is a product of his own making.

From a distance

Minns knows the feeling of being thousands of kilometres from home when he is needed at his post.

When the deadly Bondi Junction stabbings occurred in 2024, the premier immediately returned from a family holiday to Japan, which had barely even begun.

In doing so, he avoided any trace of the criticism that was levelled at former prime minister Scott Morrison, who was pictured holidaying in Hawaii as bushfires took hold back home.

While this week's gangland violence did not match the scale of those crises, it still demanded the government's attention.

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai on Thursday, the premier agreed Sydney's gang war was out of control in the eyes of those affected by it.

However, he said his physical absence was inconsequential.

"We can, for example, speak to the police commissioner on a Teams call," he said.

"That's what I would be doing if I was back in Sydney."

He said his trade mission was equally important.

"We have to be able to walk and chew gum," he said.

Pressure to deliver

Significantly raising the stakes of this trip was Minns's mockery of the trade mission his predecessor made.

In 2022 while then-premier Dominic Perrottet was on a visit to Japan, South Korea and India, the Coalition was enduring days of negative headlines over former Nationals leader John Barilaro's appointment to a plum trade role.

At the time, Minns saw an opportunity.

"NSW is embroiled in scandal and Dominic Perrottet seems to be on an extended Contiki tour through south-east Asia," he posted on social media.

"We deserve better."

Current NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane has avoided the temptation to downplay the significance of Mr Minns's trip.

She had expressed her own desire to embark on a trade mission here, so criticising the premier would be hypocritical.

Early in his term, Mr Minns had little appetite for an overseas trip, preferring to focus on bread-and-butter issues like health, education and housing.

Three and a half years in, he is convinced that face-to-face meetings can help build momentum in the trading relationship.

"The Indian economy is the fastest-growing major economy in the world and they want what NSW has," he said.

"But we've got to work at it."

Was it worth it?

Before he flew home on Friday, Minns met with Indian Bollywood producer Sajid Nadiadwala at a studio, announcing that three films would be shot in NSW, including a sequel to the 2007 film 'Heyy Babyy'.

Earlier in the trip, the government signed a deal to provide state-owned traffic management technology to Indian firm, HCLTech.

The premier also launched Western Sydney University's India campus and held a series of meetings aimed at boosting investment in the state's critical minerals.

However, there were no deals with Indian airlines to secure direct flights to Western Sydney airport.

And tourism leaders repeatedly told the premier that Australia's visa process was frustrating for Indian tourists, restraining growth in that sector of the market.

While the trip was focused on trade, Mr Minns would be hoping to take a political dividend from this visit.

As debate over immigration rages, Labor hopes voters, particularly those in Western Sydney, remember his enthusiastic embrace of the India-NSW relationship.

If he wins an election in March, the once travel-averse premier could soon be on a plane again.