India and Australia condemned terrorism and urged all countries to combat it without double standards. PM Modi and his counterpart Anthony Albanese also discussed West Asia peace and reiterated their support for the Quad during their meeting in Melbourne.
India and Australia on Thursday unequivocally condemned the scourge of terrorism and emphasised the importance of all countries joining forces to combat it without any double standards. They also called for action against all those involved in any manner with terrorism. Addressing a special press conference after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's talks with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, Foreign Secretary Vikarm Misri also said that the situation in West Asia came up for discussion and the Prime Minister expressed once again India's desire to see sustained peace in the region.
"The leaders also exchanged perspectives about regional and multilateral matters of mutual interest, including shared concerns such as terrorism and violent extremism, which impact both countries. Both countries have seen terrible incidents in the space of the last year or so in this domain. The Prime Minister expressed once again India's desire to see sustained peace in the West Asian region, which was also a subject that came up for discussion between the two sides," Misri said.
"Both leaders also extended or reiterated their support to Quad and identified it as a key mechanism to respond to some of the region's most pressing challenges, including in areas related to infrastructure, critical and emerging technologies, cyber security, supply chain resilience, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief, maritime security, and counter-terrorism," he added.
'Complete Meeting of Minds' on Terrorism
Answering a query, Misri said terrorism is a shared concern of both countries. "During the discussions, there was reference to the horrifying terrorist incidents that have impacted both countries. I would say that this is an issue on which there is a complete meeting of minds between the two countries and an agreement on approaches, both in terms of communication as well as in terms of handling and building up capacities to address this challenge," he said.
"Both sides unequivocally condemn the scourge of terrorism and have emphasised the importance for all countries to join forces in combating the threat of terrorism without any double standards and call for action against all those involved in any manner with terrorism," he added.
Defence and Security Cooperation
Misri said one of the key outcomes of the meeting today was the adoption of the Joint Declaration on Defence and Security Cooperation as well as an India-Australia maritime security collaboration roadmap. "These constitute recognition that the partnership must evolve to meet changing strategic circumstances and to reflect a commitment to advancing our defence and security partnership," he said.
Energy and Clean Energy Transition
The Foreign Secretary said the Prime Ministers also recognise the central role of industry-led partnerships and strategic investments in deepening cooperation to support reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy supply. Misri said the Prime Minister noted that India is an important supplier of downstream petroleum products to Australia, while Australia remains a long-standing supplier of products such as coal and natural gas.
"As a result of this visit, we also have the administrative arrangement for enabling the supply of uranium from Australia to India. This is an agreement that builds on the earlier agreement on civil nuclear cooperation between India and Australia that was signed in 2014. This is a significant step in fulfilling the clean energy transition ambitions of India and the shared objectives of both India and Australia towards a clean energy economy and towards the transition to net zero," he added.
PM Modi is on a three-day visit to Australia. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)