Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced plans to visit India next year immediately after his meeting with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the final day of the G20 Summit in Bali.
Mr Albanese is scheduled to go to India twice in 2023. His first trip will be in March 2023 where his focus will be on economic cooperation and include a business delegation. In his second visit, he will attend the next G20 Summit, which India is hosting.
So wonderful to see my friend @narendramodi, Prime Minister of India, and to celebrate the rich connections between our two countries and our people. We had a discussion on how India and Australia can work more closely on Indo-Pacific security, including as Quad partners. pic.twitter.com/Y3P1FIDXMt
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) November 16, 2022
PM Modi’s trip to Australia, already in schedule, will be for the 2023 Quad Summit that will be hosted by Mr Albanese.
Glad to meet PM Albanese. Discussed ways to further cement the 🇮🇳 🇦🇺 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, with a focus on cooperation in education, innovation and other sectors. We also talked about increasing trade and maritime cooperation. @AlboMP pic.twitter.com/p216micRek
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 16, 2022
Addressing the media at the sidelines of the Bali summit, Prime Minister Albanese aid, “I met with Prime Minister Modi of India, where we discussed the finalisation of the closer economic cooperation agreement between Australia and India, which we regard as being very important for expanding the economic relationship between Australia and India. I will visit India in March. We’ll take a business delegation to India. And that will be an important visit and an upgrade in the relationship that we have between our two nations. And of course, Prime Minister Modi will visit Australia next year for the Quad Leaders’ meeting. And then I will return to India later in the year for the G20 Summit. We also spoke about the details of the Quad Leaders’ meeting that will take place next year.”
It was PM Albanese’s first meeting with Mr Modi after discussing the finalisation of the interim Australia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement that was signed between Australia and India in April 2022.
In December 2020, India-Australia bilateral ties touched a new high with the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership signing key agreements, including a landmark pact for reciprocal access to military bases against the backdrop of their frosty relationship with China. The two countries have also played a key role in stabilising the strategically important Indo-Pacific region.
India is among Australia’s top-tier trading partners, with a two-way trade in goods and services having grown in value from USD 13.6 billion in 2007 to USD 24.3 billion in 2020, according to the Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
(With inputs from PTI)
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