Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott held talks and agreed to establish a framework for security cooperation to reflect the deepening and expanding security and defence engagement between the two countries.
They established the framework to intensify cooperation and consultation between Australia and India in areas of mutual interest.
“I greatly welcome the New Framework for Security Cooperation. Security and defence are important and growing areas of the new India-Australia partnership — for advancing regional peace and stability, and combating terrorism and trans-national crimes,” The Hindu reported quoting Modi to have said in the statement to the media at a joint press conference with Abbott.
Modi, while addressing the Parliament later, also called for collaboration in the field of maritime security.
“We should collaborate more on maintaining maritime security. We should work together on the seas and collaborate in international forums. And, we should work for a universal respect for international law and global norms,” he said reiterating his call for collaboration on maritime security made at the East Asia and ASEAN summits in Myanmar last week.
Modi and Abbott decided that the framework will be implemented in accordance with an action plan.
The action plan also includes an annual Joint Working Group on counter-terrorism and other transnational crimes, cooperation in counter-terrorism training and exchanges between experts on countering improvised explosive devices, bomb incidents and technologies among others.
Progress under the action plan will be reviewed through established institutional arrangements, including the Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue and the Defence Ministers’ meetings.
“The Prime Minister of India and the Prime Minister of Australia reaffirm that the strategic partnership between India and Australia is based on converging political, economic and strategic interests; a shared desire to promote regional and global peace, security and prosperity; and a commitment to democracy, freedom, human rights, and the rule of law,” a Ministry of External Affairs statement on the Framework for Security Cooperation said.(KH)
