NEW DELHI: India and Australia reviewed their comprehensive strategic partnership on Tuesday as external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Australian counterpart Penny Wong explored ways to deepen cooperation in key areas such as defence, security and trade.
The bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership is growing steadily and this is reflected in “stronger political ties, robust defence & security cooperation, expanded trade, greater mobility and deeper educational linkages”, Jaishankar said on X after the meeting.
The two sides also discussed their respective neighbourhoods, the Indo-Pacific, the conflicts in West Asia and Ukraine and the global strategic scenario, he said.
India and Australia launched an annual summit of their leaders last year and the bilateral Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement has yielded results as two-way trade grew to Aus $48 billion in 2023, Jaishankar said at a joint media conference with Wong.
Australian universities were the first to open campuses in India, and the militaries of the two countries are conducting more joint drills, he said. “In terms of global issues…we spoke about the global strategic situation, largely Ukraine, Indo-Pacific, Middle East…,” he added.
Wong emphasised the importance of India in “securing the region we both want” and said she and Jaishankar discussed the “next stage of ambition” in the comprehensive strategic partnership.
She announced the Australian government will award Aus$1.6 million in grants for six projects under the Australia-India Cyber and Critical Technology Partnership. These projects, focused on areas such as undersea cables, responsible principles for quantum technologies and digital public infrastructure, will be implemented by the Australia India Institute, ANU, CSIRO, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, Monash University and National Institute of Strategic Resilience.
Jaishankar also said on X that he met Australian defence minister Richard Marles and discussed cooperation under the comprehensive strategic partnership developments in the Indo-Pacific and the region.
