MELBOURNE: “Australia-India Ties Have Never Been Closer”- Australian Prime Minister

MELBOURNE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held “fruitful” discussions with Australia’s newly-elected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the sidelines of the Quad Summit in Tokyo during which the two leaders reviewed the multifaceted bilateral cooperation and reaffirmed their desire to deepen it.

The two leaders are in Japan for the second in-person Quad leaders’ summit.

“Advancing friendship with Australia. Prime Ministers @narendramodi and @AlboMP held fruitful discussions in Tokyo. The talks focused on deepening the developmental cooperation between India and Australia across diverse sectors,” the Prime Minister’s Office tweeted.

Prime Minister Modi congratulated Mr Albanese for his election victory.

“Both leaders reviewed the multi-faceted cooperation under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including in trade & investment, defence manufacturing, renewable energy including green hydrogen, education, science and technology, agricultural research, sports and people-to-people ties,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a press release.

Both Prime Ministers affirmed their desire to continue the positive momentum in the bilateral relationship, it added.

Prime Minister Modi extended an invitation to the Australian Prime Minister to visit India at an early date.

“Warmly welcomed my meeting with @narendramodi for an engaging discussion on Australia and India’s full strategic and economic agenda, including on clean energy technology. Australia-India ties have never been closer,” Prime Minister Albanese tweeted.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi termed the meeting as a renewed momentum in the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Earlier, the two leaders attended the Quad summit along with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

At the Quad summit also, Prime Minister Modi had complimented Mr Albanese saying his presence at the summit after 24 hours of taking the oath showed his commitment to Quad.

Anthony Albanese was sworn in as Australia’s 31st Prime Minister on Monday. His center-left Labor Party ousted predecessor Scott Morrison’s conservative coalition at Saturday’s election. The coalition had been in power under three prime ministers for nine years.

He said that Australia will host the next Quad summit in 2023.