Australian Deputy PM arrives in India; hails New Delhi as Canberra's 'top-tier partner'

Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles arrived in India on Monday and hailed New Delhi as Canberra's “top-tier partner” and a “close friend”. During the three-day visit, Marles will hold a bilateral meeting with Union defence Minister Rajnath Singh to enhance defence and security cooperation between both countries. It would be the first such meeting between Rajnath Singh and Richard Marles. 

Marles would also meet with External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar along with engaging in national security and defence policymakers and personnel. While taking to Twitter, the Australian Defence minister announced his arrival in India and wrote, “I look forward to advancing our ongoing defence engagement as Comprehensive Strategic Partners and reiterate our commitment for closer cooperation in the Indo Pacific.”

Marles' visit follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese on the sidelines of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) in Tokyo, Japan wherein both leaders discussed the matters of mutual interest. Both PM Modi and Albanese were in Japan for the second in-person QUAD leaders’ summit. After his meeting with PM Modi, Albanese wrote on Twitter on May 24, “Warmly welcomed my meeting with Narendra Modi 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.”

PM Modi lauds India-Australia ties, calls it ‘robust’

Earlier in May, after meeting Australia’s then newly-elected PM, the Prime Minister had hailed ties between both the nations as “robust”. PM Modi said, “India’s Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Australia is robust and benefits not only the people of our nations but also the world.” and said that he was “delighted” to meet his Australian counterpart. The Prime Minister said that he discussed “ways to add even greater momentum across key sectors” with Albanese. 

India and Australia are QUAD members along with the United States and Japan. While all four leaders met only last month, Australia would be hosting the next summit in 2023. Even at the summit in Tokyo, PM Modi had complimented his Australian counterpart saying that Alabnese’s presence at the summit after 24 hours of taking oath showed his commitment to QUAD. 

Image: @RichardMarlesMP/Twitter