Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday held wide-ranging talks with his Australian counterpart Peter Dutton to boost overall bilateral strategic ties.
The talks took place a day ahead of the inaugural “two-plus-two” dialogue between foreign and defense ministers of India and Australia.
- Peter Dutton is on his first official visit to India along with a high-level delegation for a 2+2 ministerial dialogue.
- Both the countries are keen to work jointly in order to realize the full potential of India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
- Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is based on the shared vision of a free, open, inclusive and rule-based Indo-Pacific region.
- Australia and India have several stakes in peace, development, rules-based order, free flow of trade and economic growth in the region.
- Discussion between both sides was focused on:
- Bilateral defense cooperation
- Expansion of military engagements across the services,
- Enhancing defense information sharing,
- Cooperation in emerging defense technologies and
- Mutual logistics support.
Comprehensive Strategic Partnership
India and Australia share their bilateral relation as a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” because both the countries were the part of British Empire. Both of them are members of the Commonwealth of Nations. They share political, security, economic, lingual, and sporting ties. Cricket and the English language have emerged as a strong cultural connection between both. Military of both the countries meet for a regular joint naval exercise called AUSINDEX.
