Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison here on Thursday, ahead of the first in-person quad meeting hosted by US President Joe Biden.
The meeting comes a week after PM Modi and Morrison spoke over the phone and reviewed the rapid progress in the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including the recent ‘two-plus-two’ dialogue, and exchanged views on regional developments. -be provided. Upcoming Quad meeting.
The two leaders have met several times on the sidelines of various international conferences. Earlier, PM Morrison had also called up PM Modi to brief him about the plans to go ahead with the Australia, UK and US (AUKUS) alliance.
The meeting assumes significance as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh held ‘two-plus-two’ talks with their Australian counterparts Maris Payne and Peter Dutton in New Delhi on September 11.
This was the first meeting between the prime ministers of India and Australia since the AUKUS (Australia, UK and US) security partnership was unveiled by US President Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Morrison last week.
The AUKUS partnership, seen as an effort to counter China in the Indo-Pacific, will allow the US and UK to provide the technology to Australia to develop nuclear-powered submarines for the first time.
Australia said its decision to join a security alliance with the US and the UK is aimed at developing capabilities that, together with India and other countries, address behavior that threatens peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region. contribute to preventing
In India’s first reaction to the controversial alliance, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Tuesday said the new security pact between the US, UK and Australia is neither relevant to the Quad nor will have any impact on its functioning, and they are of similar nature. not groups.
Shringla said the AUCs is a security alliance between the three countries, while the Quad is a multilateral grouping with a vision of a free, open, transparent and inclusive Indo-Pacific.
The quad includes India, the US, Japan and Australia.
US President Biden is hosting the first in-person quad summit at the White House on September 24, which will be attended by Modi, Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
Development in Afghanistan, the COVID-19 pandemic and ways to expand cooperation for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific are set to be the central focus of the Quad, a four-nation grouping.
France reacted angrily to the formation of the new AUKUS alliance as it resulted in Paris effectively missing out on a multi-billion dollar deal to build 12 conventional submarines for Australia. France is also upset with its boycott from the alliance.
China has also criticized the formation of AUKUS.
Earlier today, the Prime Minister interacted with Qualcomm CEO Cristiano R. Amon and discussed a range of issues including electronics, telecom manufacturing and various measures to strengthen the innovation ecosystem.
The Prime Minister met General Atomics CEO Vivek Lal and discussed defense manufacturing in India, utilization of emerging technologies and enhancing capacity building.
PM Modi also met Adobe Chairman Shantanu Narain. Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Modi reached Washington for his much-loved US visit.
US President Joe Biden will host PM Modi at the White House on 24 September. This is going to be the first in-person meeting between the two leaders since Biden took over as US president on January 20.
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