Australian Deputy PM to visit India
Recently the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia has said that, India is completely at the center of Australia’s worldview. This was stated by the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia at the conclusion of his visit to India.
He underlined the importance of strengthening ties between the two countries (India and Australia) given the rise of China.
He said China is India and Australia’s biggest trading partner, but it is also China’s biggest security concern for both countries. For this, he cited the Line of Actual Control and the South China Sea.
India-Australia Relations
- Shared Values: Both are democracies that build and respect a global rules-based order.
- Economic: The trade in goods and services between the two countries stood at $24.4 billion in the year 2020. India was Australia’s seventh largest trading partner and sixth largest export market in 2020. Coal and international education had a major contribution in this.
- Defence: In the year 2020, improving bilateral relations, it was extended to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The two countries had signed a landmark agreement for mutual access to each other’s military bases for logistics. The two countries have also established 2+2 security dialogue.
- Joint exercise: The Australian Navy is part of the Malabar naval exercise organized by India. Indian Air Force will participate in the “Pitch Black Exercise” to be organized by Australia.
- Regional Grouping: Both the countries are included in the Quad and Australia in the India-Indonesia Trilateral Forum.
Source – The Hindu
