New Delhi [India], June 4 : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met the Deputy Prime Minister and the Defence Minister of Australia, Richard Marles on Wednesday. The two leaders participated in the celebration of the 5th anniversary of the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership here in New Delhi.
In a post on X, the EAM said, "Delighted to meet DPM & Defence Minister @RichardMarlesMP this evening in New Delhi. His presence here today as we celebrate the 5th anniversary of India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is testament to the significant strides our ties have made. Discussed the state of the world and our assessments on various issues of mutual interest."
https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1930273340872151055
In another post on X, EAM Jaishankar noted, "Pleased to join DPM and Defence Minister @RichardMarlesMP at the Australian High Commission today to mark five years of our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership."
https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1930280298715193392
In his speech delivered during the event, EAM Jaishankar extended greetings to Marles and his colelagues on their impressive election victory. He said, "We really appreciate your visit to India in the early days of your second term, just actually as you did as your first term commenced."
Noting how the India-Australia ties have grown by leaps and bounds in the last five years, he called the relationship having transformed across various areas.
"A decade ago, if I had stood here and told you all that Australia would actually be amongst our closest political friends, our strongest security partners, a country with whom we would have a Free Trade Agreement, whose University would be among the first to actually set up an establishment in India - in fact if I told you that we would have many more things to discuss other than cricket - I don't think any of you would have believed me. And yet, here we are - not just with a transformed relationship, but actually marking 5 years of the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. And the reason for that - the 'Mateship' or the 'Dosti' - has actually been the strong leadership that we have seen from both countries, the trust and the mutual respect, and today we saw one example of that as the Deputy Prime Minister reiterated the strong sense of solidarity and support that we got when the Pahalgam terrorist attack happened, and I recall that the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, despite being in the middle of a very intense election campaign, actually reached out and called Prime Minister Modi to express those sentiments."
Jaishankar enlisted several mechanisms established between the two countries, aimed at further deepening and diversifying the cooperation.
"We have established the practice of Annual Summits, in fact I think the last few years have seen more meetings between our Prime Ministers than probably we ever had in the 80 years of history before that. We have our 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministers' Dialogue, we have Foreign Ministers' Framework Dialogue, we have a Joint Commission for Trade, for Skills, for Education, for Energy. So when we speak about a strategic partnership today - a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership - these are not just words. These are actually a deepening of our cooperation in so many domains which are expressed so productively, and in a way, on the ground , I spoke about the ECTA Trade Agreement, we have a Mobility and Migration Partnership as well, we have the Work and Holiday visa Program, the MATES Program, the Mutual Recognition of Educational Qualifications, and of course as the Deputy Prime Minister said really - a real transformation in areas like Defence, I would even point to energy, as another example. And not the least, we have today a million - strong Indian- Australian community , which is truly a very, very unique bridge between us."
In his concluding remarks, Jaishankar reaffirmed India's strong commitment to take the relationship to greater heights. He listed areas of cooperation. "I am here today to reaffirm...a strong commitment to take this relationship to still greater heights, to look at areas like critical minerals, cyber, technology, space, sports as further domains of collaboration, and to work on mechanisms - most of all the Quad, but in the East Asia Summit platforms, the Indian Ocean Rim Association, the United Nations, even the trilateral grouping that we have with France."
Expressing optimism on the great five years, Jaishankar said, "I think these have been five great years in our ties. Many more to come."
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