PM Modi and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison hold the second ‘India-Australia virtual summit.’

*Paromita Das

PM Modi and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will hold the second ‘India-Australia virtual summit’ today.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison will hold talks today (March 21) on the occasion of the Second India-Australia virtual summit to lay the groundwork for new initiatives and strengthen bilateral cooperation in a variety of sectors.

The summit is expected to witness the Australian government’s largest ever trade pact with India, with Canberra set to announce investments worth Rs 1,500 crore in the country across multiple sectors.

The two countries are also expected to reach an agreement on early harvesting by the end of this month. An early harvest agreement aims to reduce tariffs on certain goods traded between two countries or trading blocs prior to a comprehensive agreement.

According to sources, the two countries will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of critical minerals, which will aid India’s access to metallic coal and lithium in Australia, as well as cater to India’s growing demand for electric vehicles and infrastructure.

According to sources, India’s Union Minister of Coal and Mines, Pralhad Joshi, will visit Australia soon.

The Summit follows the historic first Virtual Summit in June 2020, when India and Australia’s relationship was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. During the upcoming virtual summit, leaders will assess progress on various Comprehensive Strategic Partnership initiatives.

The previous summit resulted in eight landmark agreements to drive India-Australia cooperation, including a joint declaration on Indo-Pacific Maritime Cooperation, a Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA), and multiple Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on cooperation in various fields such as cyber technology, mining, defense cooperation, public administration, and water resource management.

In September 2021, Prime Minister Modi met with Prime Minister Morrison in Washington DC on the sidelines of the Quad Leaders’ Summit.

The two leaders met again in November of last year in Glasgow, Scotland, for the COP26 climate summit. On November 17, that year, PM Morrison spoke at the Bengaluru Tech Summit, where he announced the establishment of a new Australia-India Centre of Excellence for Critical and Emerging Technology Policy and the intention to open a new Consulate General in Bengaluru, while his Indian counterpart, PM Modi, delivered the keynote address at the Sydney Dialog on India’s technological evolution and revolution on November 18.

The two countries’ cooperation has also continued at the ministerial level, with the 2+2 Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialog.

The Quad has evolved into an important multilateral forum for strengthening cooperation on mutually beneficial issues. S Jaishankar will visit Australia in February 2022 to attend the 4th Quadrennial Meeting of Foreign Ministers, which will be held in Melbourne on February 11.

Even on a cultural level, Australia’s Indian community continues to grow in size and importance, with a population of approximately 7,21,000 in 2020.

India is a major source of skilled immigrants to Australia, as well as a consistent source of students and tourists.