India, Australia leaders to hold virtual summit on March 21
Darpan News Desk IANS, 17 Mar, 2022 11:27 AM
New Delhi, March 17 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison will participate in the second India-Australia virtual summit on March 21, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India and Australia virtual summit will be held on March 21 where Indian and Australian leaders will hold the summit.
"This summit follows the historic first virtual summit which was held on June 4, 2020 when our bilateral relationship was elevated to comprehensive strategic partnership," Bagchi said.
He also said that during this forthcoming virtual summit the leaders will take stock of progress made on various initiates under the comprehensive strategic partnership.
The virtual summit will lay forward the new initiatives and enhanced cooperation in a diverse range of sectors.
"The leaders are expected to commit to closer cooperation in trade, critical minerals, migration and mobility and education among others. "Views on regional and international issues will also be discussed," said the officer.
India, Australia comprehensive strategic partnership has maintained the momentum of upward trajectory.
Both countries continue to collaborate closely despite the Covid-19 pandemic in areas such as science and technology, cyber defence, critical and strategic minerals, public administration and governance.
Modi met Morrison in Washington for their first in person meeting after the Covid-19. This meeting was held last September on the margin of Quad leaders summit 2021.
In June 2020, India and Australia elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership and signed a landmark deal for reciprocal access to military bases for logistics support.
The Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) allows militaries of the two countries to use each other's bases for repair and replenishment of supplies, besides facilitating scaling up of overall defence cooperation.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said he will invite Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Punjab Governor V.P. Badnore and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as guests at the special session.
Chidambaram was addressing a press conference at the fag-end of his two-day visit to the state in the capacity as the All India Congress Committee's senior observer in charge of Goa ahead of the 2022 state assembly polls.
Punjab annually generates 20 million tonnes of paddy straw and this is normally set on fire to quickly clear the fields for the next crop, resulting in choking of the National Capital Region (NCR) in October and November.
Priyanka's remarks came after farmers on Tuesday evening vacated the railway tracks and highways in Punjab after the Amarinder Singh government accepted the demands of the sugarcane farmers.
The 'rebel' legislators reached Dehradun in the morning to apprise Rawat about the mood of the public against the Amarinder Singh-led government in the state. They, among 20-odd party legislators, have been demanding replacement of Amarinder Singh as he failed to fulfill the 2017 poll promises.
Rao also slammed Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for raking up 10-year-old allegations related to the mining scam in an attempt to put Congress leaders in the dock in pollbound Goa.
