The first 'two plus two' ministerial talks will be held between India and Australia on Saturday. The Foreign Minister of Australia Maris Payne and Defense Minister Peter Dutton will be hosted by EA Minister S Jaishankar and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh. Before this dialogue, the Defense Ministers of both countries held detailed discussions on Friday to boost the overall bilateral strategic ties. Meanwhile, EA Minister S Jaishankar gave a warm welcome to Australian Foreign Minister Maris Payne.
After the meeting with Peter Dutton, Rajnath Singh said that the relation between both countries is based on our shared vision of a free, open, inclusive, and rules-based Indo-Pacific region. He termed the talks as "meaningful" and during the meeting, bilateral defense cooperation, as well as regional issues were discussed. He said that the main focus of our discussions was on enhancing expanding military connectivity, bilateral defense cooperation, enhancing the sharing of defense information, mutual logistical support, cooperation in emerging defense technology.
In the difficult times of Covid-19, the Defense Minister said that your visit to India is a testament to our strong friendship. India and Australia have a very smooth and natural relationship and democratic traditions are also shared between both countries. Both countries have a prosperous, peaceful, and cooperative partnership in the Indo-Pacific region. Australia's help in the war against Corona was also discussed.
Diplomatic sources say that during the 'plus to plus' dialogue, the two countries can share their views on the situation in Afghanistan and talk about further strengthening bilateral defense and strategic ties. The two countries are also expected to discuss ways to boost cooperation in the region in view of China's growing military aggression in the Indo-Pacific region. Australia and India are part of the 'quadrilateral' alliance, which has pledged to work towards ensuring an open, free, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. US and Japan are the other two members of the Quad.
According to the sources, it is expected that expanding bilateral cooperation in the areas of maritime security will be the second area in the talks that will be focused on. The talks between the defense ministers and foreign ministers have been launched as part of the overall goal to expand strategic cooperation between the two countries. Defense and military cooperation between India and Australia has increased over the years.
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