India & Australia agree to bolster Comprehensive Strategic Partnership at 1st India-Australia Annual Summit in New Delhi
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today held a delegation level bilateral talks in New Delhi
During the first India-Australia Annual Summit, both the countries shared their commitment towards further deepening of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Both the nations exchanged MoU for cooperation in sports and audio-visual co-production.
The Indian and Australian side also exchanged Terms of Reference for India-Australia Solar Task Force, Letter of Intent between Atal Innovation Mission and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.
On this occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, India and Australia held extensive deliberations to further strengthen their cooperation. He said, security cooperation is an important pillar of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
He said, both countries also held discussions on further strengthening their security and defence cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. He said, India and Australia are both members of the Quad and he will travel to Australia for the Quad Leaders summit in May this year.
The Prime Minister said that India and Australia also talked about developing credible and robust global supply chains.
Terming renewable energy a key priority area for cooperation, Mr. Modi said, both the countries are working together in the field of clean hydrogen and solar.
Highlighting the benefit of Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, the Prime Minister said, it has opened up new opportunities in trade and investment between the two countries. Mr. Modi said, he raised the issue of attacks on temples in Australia before the Australian Prime Minister and Mr. Albanese has assured that safety and well-being of the Indian community in Australia is a priority for him.
Speaking on this occasion, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, the relationship with India is multifaceted. He said, high-level contact between the two countries has further strengthened cooperation across many sectors. He said, both the leaders agreed on an early conclusion of India-Australia ambitious Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement as soon as possible. He expressed hope that both the countries will be able to finalise it this year.
Earlier, the External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. He said, Mr. Albanese’ visit and annual summit between the two nations will take their ties to a higher level.
India and Australia share warm and friendly relations. The Strategic Partnership between the two countries was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2020.
Last year, both the countries had signed a free trade agreement called the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement.
The bilateral trade between the two countries amounts to nearly 27 billion dollars in 2021-22. The bilateral trade is expected to cross 45 to 50 billion dollars by 2035.
