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New Delhi, Oct 10 (IANS) Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, who is on an official visit to Australia, on Friday visited the historic and strategic naval facility HMAS Kuttabul in Sydney.
Sharing the update in a post on social media platform X, Singh said he was familiar with Sydney Harbor’s facilities on Admiral Hudson.
“Visited HMAS Kuttabul, a historic and strategic naval facility in Sydney today. The Admiral was introduced to the impressive facilities in Sydney Harbor on the Hudson. Both countries will benefit from deepening India-Australia naval cooperation and coordinated maritime domain awareness in the Indo-Pacific region,” the Defense Minister posted.
Singh arrived in Sydney on Wednesday for a two-day official visit to Australia at the invitation of the country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles.
On Thursday he held bilateral meetings with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Defense Minister Richard Marles to explore new ways to strengthen cooperation between the two countries.
After the meetings, Prime Minister Albanese wrote on social media: “Australia and India’s defense partnership is going from strength to strength – based on trust, shared interests and a commitment to a peaceful, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific. It was great to meet Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on his first visit to Australia for the inaugural Australia-India Defense Ministers’ Dialogue.”
Singh described his discussions with Deputy Prime Minister Markles as “productive”, noting that both sides reviewed the full spectrum of India-Australia defense cooperation, including the defense industry, cyber defence, maritime security and regional challenges.
He said the talks reaffirmed the importance of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
As top-level security partners, India and Australia have discussed next steps to deepen their defense ties, including enhancing strategic dialogue and increasing the complexity of joint military exercises. These discussions took place during the Australia-India Defense Ministers’ talks held at Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday.
Rajnath Singh was welcomed by Deputy Prime Minister Markle for the inaugural session of the dialogue, which marked an important milestone in the bilateral defense partnership. In his opening remarks, Singh said the two sides have made substantial progress in defense cooperation in various fields, in keeping with the overall growth of bilateral relations.
–IANS
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