India, Australia to hold 2+2 meet

Defence, Foreign Ministers to visit India

India and Australia will hold the inaugural ‘2+2’ Ministerial meeting here during the upcoming visit of Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Minister of Defence Peter Dutton. The meeting will be part of Australia's engagements with regional partners as the Ministers will visit Indonesia, India, South Korea and the United States for Indo-Pacific consultations. “These inaugural 2+2 discussions are a cornerstone of the Australia-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which is founded on a shared commitment to a secure, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific region,” said Ms. Payne before starting the four country tour. A statement from the Minister said the bilateral relationship is at a “historic high” and the discussion between Ms. Payne and her Indian counterpart Dr. S. Jaishankar will cover, economic issues, cyber security, climate change, critical technology and supply chains. Mr. Dutton will hold the defence cooperation related meeting with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh. The Sydney Morning Herald has reported that the discussion in Delhi is likely to include a bilateral free trade agreement. India and Australia have been in negotiation over a possible free trade deal, which has so far not yielded a positive result. The Ministerial meetings will be held in the backdrop of the evacuation of western forces from Afghanistan where Australia had a military presence. Australia has evacuated around 4,100 persons from Afghanistan.