Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles is preparing to visit India to co-chair the second edition of the “2+2” ministerial dialogue along with his Indian counterparts. Marles will also attend the cricket World Cup final between India and Australia on Sunday. The visit is primarily for the dialogue, which is expected to focus on boosting defense and strategic ties between both countries.
The defense ministry announced the Australian deputy prime minister’s two-day visit to India from November 19-20, stating that the visit is expected to give further impetus to bilateral defense cooperation. The “2+2” dialogue is anticipated to cover wide-ranging issues of mutual interest and ramp up defense and security ties between the two countries.
Both Australia and India are part of the Quad or Quadrilateral coalition, along with the United States and Japan. The situation in West Asia, China’s increasing military muscle flexing in the Indo-Pacific, and regional security issues are expected to be discussed during the dialogue.
The two sides are also expected to discuss a reciprocal access to military bases for logistics support, facilitated by the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA). The MoU allows the militaries of the two countries to use each other’s bases for repair and replenishment of supplies, further enhancing defense cooperation.
Marles’ visit to India comes as part of the growing defense and strategic ties between the two nations. India and Australia signed a landmark deal for reciprocal access to military bases in June 2020 and are now working towards strengthening their overall defense and strategic cooperation.
The dialogue is also expected to delve into issues related to the Hamas-Israel conflict, further strengthening defense and security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, and ramping up strategic cooperation. With this visit, India and Australia aim to bolster their already strong bilateral partnership.
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