New Delhi: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday conveyed to visiting External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar that he is looking forward to his bilateral visit to India next month and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the invitation.
He said that Australia would be hosting the Quad leaders’ summit in the first half of the year, when PM Modi would be coming.
Welcoming Jaishankar, the Australian PM remarked that the EAM is a regular visitor to the country.
“And I, of course, am looking forward to being in India in just a few weeks’ time now for the bilateral visit. And I thank Prime Minister Modi for the invitation. And then, of course, I will welcome the Quad Leaders meeting, including Prime Minister Modi, that we will be hosting here in just a short period of time in the first half of the year.
“And then, of course, there will be another visit for the G20 in the second half of the year. And I know that my Treasurer is there, I think, next week for a series of meetings that will be hosted in India for the G20. It will be an important period.”
Albanese said that the bilateral relationship is going from strength to strength.
“Our relationship goes from strength to strength. I’ve already had a number of meetings with your Prime Minister. And our economic relationship is important. I think we have complementary economies. I look forward to strengthening that as well, as well as on security issues.”
He said Australia is hosting Operation Malabar this year
“Operation Malabar, of course, will occur in the coming period, which we are hosting. We have much to talk about today. And you are a very welcome visitor in our country.”
The Malabar series of multilateral war-gaming naval exercises began in 1992 between the United States and India, and now includes Japan and Australia. In November last year, Australia, India, Japan, and the US held the exercises in the Philippine Sea, off the coast of Japan.
EAM Jaishankar, in tweets, on the discussion with the Australian PM, said:
“Delighted to call on PM @AlboMP of Australia today morning in Kirribilli House in Sydney. Conveyed the personal greetings of PM @narendramodi.
“Our discussions reflected the full spirit of our strategic partnership. Apprised
@AlboMP of recent developments in that regard.”
