DEFENCE MINISTER Rajnath Singh Wednesday held a bilateral meeting with his Australian counterpart Richard Marles, in which both sides agreed to work together to combat terrorism in all forms and agreed to intensify and diversify defence industry collaboration under the Australia-India Joint Research Project.
Marles is on a two-day official visit to India. The visit marks his first to India after his re-appointment as Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence.
In a statement, the Defence Ministry said that both Ministers strongly condemned the terror attack in Pahalgam and expressed deepest condolences to the families of the victims. It said Singh highlighted India’s right to respond in self-defence against cross-border terrorism and described New Delhi’s actions against Pakistan as measured, non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible.
The Indian Express also learnt that Singh alerted Marles against any possible engagement with the Pakistan military in the backdrop of its growing defence ties with China and the latter accessing key technologies. Sources said the Khalistan issue was also raised in the bilateral meeting in the context of incidents of violence in Australia perpetrated by extremists.
The defence ministry statement noted that they had deliberated on furthering defence science and technology collaboration projects when they meet in Australia later this year for the third India-Australia 2+2 ministerial meeting.
“They also reviewed the progress made since the last 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue held in November 2023, it stated.
The meeting offered an opportunity to both sides to review the status of bilateral engagements in the context of emerging regional and global scenarios.
Story continues below this ad
“The discussions covered a wide range of issues such as defence strategic cooperation and security, including industry collaboration, cyber and new emerging technologies, counter-terrorism, hydrography and maritime security,” it said, while adding that the two sides also exchanged views on regional and global security issues of mutual interest.
Both sides expressed satisfaction and recognised that defence has emerged as an important pillar of the collaboration on the fifth anniversary of the signing of the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. “Both countries expressed satisfaction at the growing strategic convergence between the two countries and agreed to work together towards a free and open Indian Ocean and Pacific Island region,” the statement said.
India and Australia also called for the continued strengthening of bilateral defence cooperation and their commitment for achieving their shared objective of peace, prosperity, stability and progress in the Indo-Pacific region.
Earlier, Marles laid a wreath at the National War Memorial and paid homage to the fallen heroes.
Source link
[ad_3]
[ad_4]