NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Australian counterpart Penny Wong in the national capital for the Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue on Tuesday morning.
The two leaders will hold discussions on advancing the strategic partnership between the two countries.
“Glad to welcome FM @SenatorWong of Australia to Hyderabad House today morning. Our Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue will advance our strategic partnership,” Jaishankar posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Meanwhile, Wong attended exhibitions featuring Australian First Nations Artists at the Australian High Commission.
Praising the cultures of the two countries, Wong said, “We really want to bring the connection between our first nation’s cultures and the cultures of India, together. We spoke a bit earlier about the Gondwana Art project, the Indian Gond Art from Central India…This isn’t just about history. It’s also about the future and I was really pleased to announce an important agreement between India and Australia, which is the Audio Visual co-production agreement which will encourage collaboration and creative exchange”.
“Now India is a global powerhouse in film. So it’s pretty exciting to imagine what we can produce together, Bollywood in Brisbane, Melbourne in Mumbai, or something similar,” she added.
Earlier on Monday, the India-Australia 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue took place with EAM Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh participating with their Australian counterparts; Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles.
In her opening remarks, Wong said that Canberra deeply values its bilateral relationship with New Delhi, adding that it is “crucial to region” where sovereignty is respected. She further noted that the two nations have done a lot together bilaterally and hope to do more.
During the meeting, Jaishankar said that the bilateral relationship between India and Australia has grown rapidly and noted that it has larger implications for the region. He called the partnership between India and Australia in Quad format “very beneficial” for bilateral relations and the Indo-Pacific region.