Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: India and Australia exchanged views on deepening multifaceted ties in several areas, including defence and security, trade and investment, critical minerals, energy, climate change, Science and Technology, space, education and people to people linkages at the secondthe 2 plus 2 Dialogue here on November 20.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar co- chaired the 2 plus 2 Dialogue with Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong.
Regional and global issues were also discussed. Both sides also exchanged views on shared priorities for strengthening mini-lateral and multilateral cooperation.
In his opening remarks, Jaishankar said this has been an exceptional year for India-Australia relationship. He said theeconomic implicationsof the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement entered into last December are unfolding this year.
Jaishankar pointed out that the bilateral relationship has grown rapidly but it has larger implications for the region. He highlighted that India and Australia’s partnership in the Quad format has been beneficial for the Indo-Pacific Region.
Earlier in the day, Singh held bilateral talks with Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Richard Marles. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment towards further strengthening bilateral defence relations.
Jaishankar also held a meeting with the Australian Defence Minister. In a social media post, the External Affairs Minister said they spoke about recent developments that influence the Indo-Pacific strategic scenario and also exchanged views on West Asia. Both leaders also discussed World Cup Cricket final match.
Defence Ministry said in a statement that both Ministers expressed satisfaction at the increasing military-tomilitary cooperation between the two countries, including joint exercises, exchanges and institutional dialogue.
Singh congratulated Marles on the maiden and successful conduct of multilateral exercise ‘Malabar’ by Australia in August this year. The two ministers agreed that deepening cooperation in defence industry and research would give a fillip to the already strong relationship
