Canberra, October 9
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday during his visit to the country and hailed the fillip towards the bilateral relationship.
In a post on X he said, "Excellent meeting with the Prime Minister of Australia Hon Anthony Albanese in Canberra. He fondly recalled his deep association with India. I am confident that India-Australia bilateral relationship will continue to grow deeper and stronger."
https://x.com/rajnathsingh/status/1976130288989384751
Upon meeting Rajnath Singh, the Australian PM underscored how India and Australia's defence partnership is built on trust, shared interests and a commitment to a peaceful, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
He expressed delight on meeting Singh, and said on X, "Australia and India's defence partnership keeps getting stronger - built on trust, shared interests and a commitment to a peaceful, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific. Great to meet with the Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on his first trip to Australia for the Inaugural Australia-India Defence Ministers' Dialogue."
https://x.com/AlboMP/status/1976100557363548543
Earlier, Rajnath Singh held a productive meeting with Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles.
The leaders reviewed the full spectrum of India-Australia defence cooperation, including defence industry, cyber defence, maritime security and regional challenges.
Noting the rapid growth of India's defence industry and India's growing stature as a credible source of high-quality defence tech globally, Singh said that they discussed the potential for deeper defence industry partnerships between India and Australia.
India and Australia inked key defence agreements during the visit of the Defence Minister.
Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles has described the newly signed defence agreement with India as a "hugely significant step" in strengthening the operational partnership between the two nations' armed forces.
Speaking exclusively to ANI, Marles said, "I think the significance of today is that what we are seeing in terms of deep trust and strategic alignment is now being expressed in a much deeper operational level of engagement between our two defence forces. The Agreement that we have signed in terms of staff talks between our operational commands is hugely significant... We are very excited about that."
Singh arrived in Canberra on Thursday as part of his official visit to Australia aimed at strengthening defence and strategic cooperation between the two nations.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Finally seeing some concrete progress in defence cooperation. The agreements signed today will help our armed forces work better together. Hope this leads to more technology sharing and joint exercises.
As someone living in Australia, I'm really happy to see our countries getting closer. The strategic partnership makes sense given our shared democratic values and regional interests. More cultural exchanges would be great too!
Good to see India's defence industry getting global recognition. Our Make in India initiative is clearly paying off when countries like Australia want to partner with us. Jai Hind! 🚀
While I support stronger ties, I hope these defence agreements don't escalate tensions in the region. We should focus on economic cooperation and people-to-people connections as much as military partnerships.
The mention of cyber defence cooperation is particularly important in today's digital age. Hope this partnership extends to protecting our critical infrastructure and combating cyber threats together. ðŸ‘
Australia has been a reliable partner in the Quad. This deepening defence relationship shows India's growing strategic importance on the global stage. Proud moment for Indian diplomacy!
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