Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Australia in May to take part in the QUAD leadership summit. The announcement was made during the joint press conference hosted by the Prime Minister along with Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, who is on a four-day visit to India.
“India and Australia are both members of the Quad. I thank PM Albanese for inviting me to Australia for the Quad Leaders’ summit in May. I have invited him to India for the G20 summit in September,” PM Modi said.
The leaders of the QUAD group have met on four occasions earlier and their next meeting will be held in Australia. The group’s importance in the region has increased due to its keen interest in sustainable and inclusive economic growth and increasing people-to-people connections not only between QUAD members but also between non-QUAD members.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on several occasions has highlighted that QUAD is a force of global good and is aimed at developing the region while protecting the interests of all members of the Indo-Pacific region.
The first virtual meeting of the Quad leaders was held in March 2021 under the leadership of US President Joe Biden. He later hosted the first in-person meeting and second summit of Quad leaders in Washington in September that year.
The third Quad summit was held virtually in March 2022, shortly after the onset of the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian war. The fourth leadership summit – which was also the second in-person summit – was held in May 2022 in Tokyo, hosted by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will now hold the fifth in-person summit in May.
Modi, Albanese hold bilateral talks
Both heads of states held bilateral talks and promised to increase cooperation across defence, trade and education among other sectors.
“Security cooperation is an important pillar in Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and Australia. We discussed maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region today,” PM Modi said.
Anthony Albanese told mediapersons that Australia and India are great friends and are working together to build a better world.
“PM Modi and I agreed on an early conclusion of our ambitious Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement as soon as possible. I am hopeful that we will be able to finalise it this year,” Albanese said.
During their meeting, PM Modi also raised the issue of attacks on temples and other places of worship by Khalistani separatists and said that his counterpart assured him that the Australian government would take care of the safety and security of the Indian diaspora.
Read all the Latest News here
Comments
0 comment