Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong Meets PM Modi

In a post on X, PM Modi said that India and Australia will continue to work for a free, open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

“Happy to receive Senator Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia. We discussed the growing India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in areas such as defence, trade, technology and ensuring supply chain resilience. India and Australia will continue to work for a free, open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” PM Modi said.

Penny Wong, who took part in the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting, later said the grouping is taking forward a number of new initiatives.

“At every meeting that we have had, we have been focused on momentum and on making sure we deliver outcomes which are real… Our obligation and responsibility is to provide real choices, particularly as strategic circumstances in our region (Indo-Pacific) are deteriorating,” she said.

She noted that the region is facing acute economic stress and highlighted concerns over the potential Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz and its impact on energy security.

“We recognise the efforts of Secretary Rubio towards a diplomatic resolution to ensure freedom of navigation is restored. We recognise the importance of maintaining the principle of freedom of navigation and our opposition to any tolling proposition. The Quad is today taking forward a number of new initiatives, an energy security initiative,” Wong added.

The Australian Foreign Minister also spoke about the Quad Ports of the Future Partnership.

“We are also today announcing the strongest ever commitment from the Quad to the Pacific through the Quad Ports of the Future Partnership where we are launching a pilot for port infrastructure in Fiji,” she said.

Wong added that the Quad countries are focusing on improving maritime security and surveillance in the Indo-Pacific.

“You are seeing that we will be coordinating our maritime surveillance efforts initially in the Indian Ocean and at Exercise Malabar through the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Collaboration Initiative,” she said.

She further said the Quad is expanding its maritime domain awareness initiative to the Indian Ocean to help combat illegal fishing, trafficking and support humanitarian disaster response.

“We are also working together to strengthen cooperation against scam centres, particularly in South East Asia, building law enforcement capacity and deepening cyber cooperation. We know we work better in partnership across our region,” Wong said.

Interacting with the media later, Penny Wong said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had announced that PM Modi would visit Australia soon.

“My Prime Minister has today announced that Prime Minister Modi will visit Australia in the very near future. We look forward to that visit,” she said.

Highlighting the strong ties between the two countries, Wong said India and Australia share a vision of a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

“We want to work together for our region and for our people,” she said.

“We are comprehensive strategic partners. We have a relationship that is anchored in strategic trust. We have a great deal of strategic alignment. And our economic ties continue to deepen. India is the world’s fastest-growing major economy. It’s an essential economic partner for Australia,” Wong added.