Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday said Canberra wants to cooperate with New Delhi and build a strong cultural, economic relationship and deepen strategic ties.
Albanese’s remarks came during a press conference after he was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi. The Australian Prime Minister also visited Rajghat earlier where he paid respects to Mahatma Gandhi.
The Australian Prime Minister thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the warm welcome and said India-Australia ties are growing stronger with each passing day.
“I thank PM Modi, for a very extraordinarily generous and warm welcome here. Australia and India are great friends. We are partners and we are building that partnership even stronger each and every day,” Albanese said.
“We want to cooperate with India and build a relationship in culture, economic relations as well as in the area of security,” Albanese further added while adding that a delegation of significant business leaders from Australia has accompanied him on his visit to India.
Albanese also referred to the cricketing ties between both nations and said while both nations compete to find out who is the world’s best, the democracies have joined hands to build a better world. Albanese and PM Modi on Thursday briefly watched the ongoing fourth and final Test for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, between India and Australia, at Ahmedabad.
The coin used at the toss was a special coin, minted to mark the occasion.
Albanese will also meet Union minister for external affairs S Jaishankar and call on President Droupadi Murmu later on in the day.
INS Vikrant Visit
Albanese visited Mumbai and mounted a fighter aircraft onboard India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant. He met with officers of the Indian Navy who shared with him facts about India’s biggest aircraft carrier.
Following his visit, Albanese heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said he can foresee how strong defence ties between India and Australia will become.
“What lifts defence relationships to new levels is the resolve and foresight of those who see the relationship not just for what it is, but for what it could be. One such person is my friend, Prime Minister Modi,” Albanese said.
The Australian Prime Minister said New Delhi is a top-tier security partner for Canberra and the Indian Ocean is central to both national security of both nations as well as their prosperity.
“There has never been a point in our country’s history where we’ve had such a strong strategic alignment which has been reinforced by my current visit to India and will be reinforced further by Prime Minister Modi’s attendance at the quad leaders meeting,” Albanese further added.
(with inputs from ANI)
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