- NEW DELHI — Visiting
Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles called
on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday, reiterating
Australia's support in India's fight against cross border terrorism.
-
- Prime Minister Modi congratulated Marles on the historic
victory of the Australian Labor Party in the recent Federal elections and also
extended an invitation to Australian PM Anthony Albanese for the Annual Summit,
to be held in India later this year.
-
- "Glad to meet Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
Richard Marles. Had a productive discussion on deepening the India-Australia
Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which marks its fifth anniversary today.
Our shared vision for a stable, secure, and prosperous Indo-Pacific continues
to guide our collaboration," PM Modi posted on X after the meeting.
Also read: Lee Jae-myung elected South Korea's President after martial law turmoil
-
- According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the two
leaders exchanged ideas to further strengthen the India-Australia Comprehensive
Strategic Partnership, which completed five years on Wednesday.
-
- The PMO stated that during their discussions, Deputy Prime
Minister Marles reiterated Australia's support in India's fight against cross
border terrorism.
-
- "They underlined the importance of enhancing
cooperation in key areas such as defence industrial collaboration, resilient
supply chains, critical minerals, new and emerging technologies. They
reaffirmed that the shared vision for a stable, secure and prosperous
Indo-Pacific continues to guide the bilateral collaboration," read a
statement issued after the meeting.
-
- Earlier in the day, Marles held a bilateral meeting with
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh as both ministers strongly condemned the terror
attack in Pahalgam and expressed deepest condolences to the families of the
victims.
-
- Singh highlighted India's right to respond in self-defence
against cross-border terrorism and described New Delhi's actions against
Pakistan as measured, non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible. The two
sides agreed to work together to combat terrorism in all its forms.
-
- "Reviewed the full range of the India-Australia defence
partnership during the extremely fruitful meeting with Australia's Deputy Prime
Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles in New Delhi. His personal
commitment and leadership in strengthening bilateral defence cooperation has
emerged as an important pillar of our Comprehensive Strategic partnership.
India thanks Australia for its unequivocal support to India's resolute response
against the barbaric act of terror in Pahalgam," Defence Minister Singh
posted on X.
-
- The two Ministers welcomed the signing of the
Australia-India Joint Research Project and agreed to intensify and diversify
defence industry collaboration. They deliberated to further the defence science
and technology collaboration projects when they meet in Australia later this
year for the third India-Australia 2+2 ministerial meeting. They also reviewed
the progress made since the last 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue held in November
2023.
-
- "The meeting offered an opportunity to both sides to
review the status of bilateral engagements in the context of emerging regional
and global scenarios. The discussions covered a wide range of issues such as
defence strategic cooperation and security, including industry collaboration,
cyber and new emerging technologies, counter-terrorism, hydrography and
maritime security. The two sides also exchanged views on regional and global
security issues of mutual interest," read a statement issued by India's
Ministry of Defence.
-
- Underscoring that Wednesday marks the fifth anniversary of
signing of the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, both sides
expressed satisfaction and recognised that defence has emerged as an important
pillar of the collaboration.