Modi, Morrison call for enhanced cooperation

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said countries in the Indo-Pacific must ensure that the “terrible” events of Ukraine never occur in the region, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for enhanced cooperation in areas such as emerging technologies as the two leaders held their second virtual summit on Monday.

In his opening remarks, Morrison noted that the summit was being held against the “very distressing backdrop of the war in Europe” and said Russia must be held to account for the tragic loss of life in Ukraine.

Modi did not refer to the situation in Ukraine or Russia in his opening remarks in Hindi, and highlighted the responsibility of countries with shared values, such as India and Australia, to ensure checks and balances for critical and emerging technologies.

He noted bilateral cooperation has increased in key areas such as trade, defence and security, education and innovation and science and technology after the two sides elevated ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2020.

“Our meeting today is, of course, set against a very distressing backdrop of the war in Europe, which must never happen in our own region,” Morrison said in his televised remarks.

“While we are obviously distressed at the terrible situation in Europe, our focus, of course, is always very much on what is occurring in the Indo-Pacific and ensuring that those events could never occur in the Indo-Pacific,” he added.

Morrison said the region is facing “increasing change and much pressure”, and the recent virtual summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad gave the leaders of the four countries an opportunity to discuss “Russia’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine” and the “implications and consequences of that terrible event for our own region in the Indo-Pacific and the coercion and the issues that we face here”.

“The tragic loss of life underlines the importance of holding Russia to account,” he said.

Cooperation between like-minded liberal democracies is key to an open, inclusive, resilient and prosperous Indo-Pacific, and India and Australia have made good progress in defence, maritime cooperation, science and technology, clean energy, and critical minerals, Morrison said.

Both Modi and Morrison spoke about the need to speedily conclude a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA) the two sides are negotiating, saying the pact is important for economic recovery and security.

Modi said the two sides had agreed on a mechanism for annual summits that will create structural arrangements to regularly review bilateral relations. He also noted the good progress in cooperation in trade, defence, innovation and science and technology and a rapid increase in collaboration in new fields such as critical minerals, water management and renewable energy.

The Indian leader thanked Morrison, who he referred to as “my dear friend”, for the return of 29 Indian artefacts that were illegally taken out of the country from Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal and other states. He also thanked Morrison for his greetings for Holi and the BJP’s recent election victories.

Australia is expected to announce investments of Aus $ 280 (more than ₹1,500 crore) and a slew of initiatives to enhance cooperation in areas ranging from rare earth minerals to defence. (Hindustan Tiimes)