India and Australia are set to hold the second two plus two Defence and Foreign Ministerial Dialogue in New Delhi tomorrow. Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar will hold meetings with Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Australia Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
According to the External Affairs Ministry, the Ministers are expected to discuss a wide range of strategic, defence and security issues. These discussions would cover bilateral, regional and global matters of mutual interest, to further advance cooperation under the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Both sides will also exchange views on shared priorities for strengthening cooperation. The two sides are also likely to take stock of the ongoing negotiations related to the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement.
In recent years, the India-Australia relationship has witnessed transformational growth. Australia and India upgraded their bilateral relationship from a Strategic Partnership to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2020. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese visited each other countries this year and took several steps to strengthen bilateral ties. The inaugural India-Australia two plus two Ministerial Dialogue was held in September 2021. India is Australia’s sixth-largest trading partner. Bilateral trade between India and Australia increased from over 22 billion US dollars in 2021 to over 31 billion US dollars last year, registering a growth of 41 per cent. India’s total exports to Australia grew by 38 per cent from 6.3 billion US dollars in 2021 to 8.7 billion US dollars.
