New Delhi: India is a top-tier security partner for Australia, said the country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, days ahead of his visit to India for this month’s 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue.
The Australian Deputy PM’s comment comes on the same day that the Australian foreign ministry confirmed speculation that the leader will attend the ICC World Cup Sunday evening, where Australia will take on India in the final.
Marles, along with Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong, will co-chair the 2+2 foreign and defence ministerial dialogues in New Delhi Monday, 20 November. Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will lead the talks from the Indian side.
In a statement Saturday, the Australian Deputy PM said, “India is a top-tier security partner for Australia and our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is one of practical, tangible actions that directly benefit the Indo-Pacific region.”
Marles further noted that this year has seen a number of firsts in the defence relationship between India and Australia, from an Indian submarine visiting Perth to Australia’s hosting of the Malabar naval exercise, including India and Canberra, US and Japan.
At the upcoming Indo-Australia 2+2 dialogue, the ministers are expected to discuss bilateral cooperation in areas of defence, security, renewable energy, technology as well as trade and investment ties.
“Along with our deepening defence and security cooperation, Australia is committed to partnering with India more closely for the benefit of our region, in the Indian Ocean, in Southeast Asia and in the Pacific,” the Australia foreign minister said in a statement.
This comes a week after India held a 2+2 dialogue with another Quad partner, the US. On 10 November, the two sides had discussed the Israel-Hamas war, Sikh extremism, and reiterated their commitment for a free and open Indo-Pacific.
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Australian Deputy PM to attend ICC World Cup
Meanwhile, the Australian foreign ministry in a statement issued Saturday confirmed Marles’s presence at the ICC World Cup final Saturday.
The match will take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also expected to attend.
Following the upcoming 2+2 Dialogue in Delhi, Australian Foreign Minister Wong will meet with Jaishankar for the annual Australia–India Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue.
At the previous such dialogue in Canberra last October, the two foreign ministers discussed the Economic and Technology Co-operation Agreement — signed last April — as well as cooperation in areas of defence, counter-terrorism, critical minerals and more. They also agreed to work closely together in Quad, trilaterals, G20, UN and other multilateral forums.
The inaugural India-Australia 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue was held in September 2021 in New Delhi after the elevation of the bilateral relationship between the two countries to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ back in June 2020.
At the time, Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh had welcomed then Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and then Defence Minister Peter Dutton. The four ministers had discussed boosting cooperation in the maritime domain, collaboration on energy security and climate change, enhancing supply chain resilience and more.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)