Received

Anthony Albanese is set to sign agreements with India to boost defence, economic and cultural ties.

The prime minister addressed media in New Delhi on Friday, flagging an expanded trade deal between the countries could be agreed by the end of the year.

He revealed he expected to leave the Asian nation having penned three "major agreements" following talks with Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

The pair will meet for their annual leaders' summit in New Delhi on Friday, following their triumphant lap of honour before the fourth Border-Gavaskar cricket Test in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

Mr Albanese had earlier toured a new aircraft carrier INS Vikrant - the first such vessel to be built in India - before he foreshadowed a new national security deal.

And clean energy will centre the economic pact, the PM citing Australia's solar muscle as playing a key role in India's decarbonisation push.

India has set ambitious goals of 50 per cent renewable energy and 30 per cent electric vehicle usage by 2030.

"There's enormous opportunities we have on solar," he told reporters.

"I spoke to one of the major Indian companies here yesterday, who are looking at billions of dollars of investment in Australia, including the manufacturing of solar panels ... (that's) something we want to promote."

A free trade agreement between the countries only came into effect in January but has already borne fruit, with more than $2.5 billion worth of Australian produce hitting India.

Mr Albanese said that paved the way for an expanded agreement with progress towards one to move "very quickly".

"I would like to see a comprehensive agreement agreed in principle at least by the end of this year," Mr Albanese told reporters.

"I want to thank the businesses ... who have travelled here as well. That's sending a big, big message to India that we believe India matters."

Later this year, Australia will host Exercise Malabar for the first time and India will make its inaugural participation in Australia's Talisman Sabre exercise.

The cultural deal expected to be signed will bring Bollywood and the Australian film industries closer together.

"For me, films are food for the soul ... they tell stories, help us to feel, and reflect who we are and where we come from," Mr Albanese said.

"I look forward to seeing more Indian-Australian co-productions on our screens showcasing the best of both our cultures, landscapes and people."

The prime minister will lay a wreath at the cremation site of Mahatma Gandhi, who he labelled a "giant of the 20th century".

Mr Albanese will also address the Indian Institute of Technology about opportunities to strengthen higher education links, holding a question and answer session with students.

The institute has partnerships with several Australian universities.

© AAP 2023

The charities watchdog will review allegations against the Hillsong church of fraud, money laundering and tax evasion to fund lavish trips and lifestyles.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie used parliamentary privilege to claim tens of thousands of leaked financial records and documents show misuse of church funds.

Assistant Minister for Charities Andrew Leigh told AAP he understands the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission will now review the allegations and any documents.

Hillsong has disputed the allegations, saying Mr Wilkie's remarks were out of context and based on "untested allegations" made by an employee in an ongoing legal case.

He said the money was spent on "the kind of shopping that would embarrass a Kardashian" and show former Hillsong leader Brian Houston, who stepped down from the role last year, "treating private jets like Ubers".

In a three-month period Houston used church money for trips costing $179,000, Mr Wilkie said, and the documents showed four Houston family members and friends spent $150,000 of church money on a luxury retreat in Cancun, Mexico in 2021.

It's also alleged the new head of Hillsong, Phil Dooley, spent tens of thousands of dollars on business-class flights for him and his daughter.

"Hillsong followers believe that the money they put in the poor box goes to the poor but these documents show how that money is actually used to do the kind of shopping that would embarrass a Kardashian," Mr Wilkie said in parliament's Federation Chamber.

"Sending millions of dollars of Australian charitable donations overseas is illegal in some circumstances," he said.

Mr Wilkie also alleged Hillsong earns $80 million more in Australian annual income than it reports publicly.

He said the leaked financial records and documents were provided to the Australian Taxation Office and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission under whistleblower protections, but they failed to act.

Education Minister Jason Clare said it was important the serious allegations were examined by those two bodies and the charities watchdog.

"If you are a member of the congregation and you've made donations to the church, then you'd be legitimately worried about where your money has gone here," Mr Clare told Seven's Sunrise program.

The security and investments commission says it is not responsible for regulating Hillsong as it is a registered charity.

In response to the allegations, a Hillsong statement said they were made under parliamentary privilege and were "in many respects wrong" and it was disappointing Mr Wilkie made no effort to contact the church first.

"If he did so we would have answered his questions and provided him with financial records to address his concerns," the Hillsong statement said.

"Hillsong has sought independent legal and accounting advice on these matters since the employee involved in the legal case made these claims, and we believe that we have complied with all legal and compliance requirements."

Houston is fighting accusations he concealed his late father's child sexual abuse and has pleaded not guilty to a charge of concealing the crime until his father's death in 2004.

The case will resume in June.

Hillsong announced in April 2022 it had accepted Houston's resignation after it was found he had breached the church's moral code by having inappropriate relations with two women.

© AAP 2023

Star opener Usman Khawaja has called out former Australian coaches and selectors for not believing he could bat against spin as he celebrated scoring a special Test century in India.

Khawaja's 14th Test century was one of his finest, batting through the entire first day against India on Thursday to put Australia in command of the Border-Gavaskar trophy finale.

The 36-year-old toured India in 2013 and 2017 but had to wait until the first match of this series in Nagpur last month to make an Test appearance in the country.

Khawaja has made up for lost time to be the leading run-scorer from either team across the four Tests, cashing in on an Ahmedabad pitch with far less demons in it than the first three matches.

The left-hander said his perceived weakness against spin-bowling could have been a "self-fulfilling prophecy".

"Any time I got to play spin, people were like 'you can't play spin' - I probably started believing it myself," Khawaja said.

"I didn't really get the support from the people around me at the time.

"Didn't feel like the team really supported me, didn't feel like the coaching staff and selectors really supported me through that journey. It just made it so hard.

"Throughout the middle of my career, I got told I couldn't play spin and that's why I never got an opportunity to play in India.

"Whether I was or wasn't (weak against spin), I'm a better player of spin now, no doubt about that.

"Fortunately enough, I'm quite stubborn so I went out of my own way to learn. I had to go back and figure it out all by myself."

Khawaja's stunning career resurgence has been one of the best stories to happen to Australian cricket in the last 18 months.

After a more than two-year absence, he was only recalled to the Test team in January 2022 because Travis Head was ruled out of the Ashes battle at the SCG after testing positive to COVID-19.

Khawaja famously scored centuries in both innings of that Test to re-establish himself as one of Australia's best batters.

He was named the Shane Warne Test Player of the Year last month after scoring 1080 runs with four centuries during 2022.

"It's just nice to go out there and tick off a hundred in India which was something if you told me that five years ago I'd think you were crazy," Khawaja said.

"There was a lot of emotion, I just never expected this to happen.

"I do feel like that monkey went off my back when I scored that hundred in Dubai (against Pakistan in 2018) - but that was Dubai.

"I wanted to do it in the subcontinent, so it's very special."

© AAP 2023