New Delhi: Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday held a broad talk with his partner Australia Peter Dutton to increase bilateral strategic bonds as a whole.
The conversation took place a day before the premiere ‘two-plus-two’ dialogue between foreign ministers and Indian and Australian defenses.
Expanding strategic bonds will be the focus of talks between the two defense ministers, an official said shortly before the meeting.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Dutton arrived here on Friday for two-plus-two dialogue where both parties were required to discuss further compaction of bilateral defenses and strategic bonds in addition to exchanging views on the situation in Afghanistan.
In the Minister’s dialogue, both parties are also expected to discuss ways to improve cooperation in the Indo Pacific in the face of Chinese military firmness that grows in the region, a diplomatic source said.
Both Australia and India are part of a quad or quadrilateral coalition that decides to work to ensure indo-Pacific is free, open and inclusive.
Two other quad members are US and Japan.
The source said expanding bilateral cooperation in the field of maritime security is expected to be another focus field on two-plus-two dialogue.
Dialogue between foreign ministers and defense is institutionalized as part of the overall goal to expand strategic cooperation between the two countries.
India has a framework for talks with several countries including the US and Japan.
Defense and military cooperation between India and Australia is up in recent years.
In June last year, India and Australia improved their relationship with a comprehensive strategic partnership and signed a landmark agreement for reciprocal access to military bases for logistical support during the online summit between Prime Minister Narendra Morrison Scott Morrison.
The Australian Navy is part of the recent Malabar Navy Exercise which also features the Indian, US and Japanese Navy.