After 'Samosa diplomacy', PM Modi to host virtual summit with Australian PM Scott Morrison

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be holding India-Australia Virtual Summit with Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia on Thursday - the first-ever "Bilateral Virtual Summit” by PM Modi. This bilateral virtual summit signifies the strengthening of ties with Australia and an upward trajectory in the bilateral relations, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

The Australian PM was to visit India this year which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis. PM Modi and Scott Morrison have met four times during the last one and a half years -- on the sidelines of East Asia Summit in Singapore in November 2018, on the sidelines of G20 in Osaka in June 2019, on the margins of G7 Summit in Biarritz in August 2019 and on the margins of East Asia Summit in Bangkok in November 2019.

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"The focus would be on the positive trajectory in bilateral relations during discussions between the two Prime Ministers, who have already met on four occasions on the sidelines of multilateral meetings," sources said.

"The virtual summit will be an opportunity for the two leaders to review the broad framework of the relationship in the context of their growing ties. It will also be an opportunity to discuss their respective responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. A number of MoUs and announcements are being discussed by the officials," they added.

"The Strategic Partnership between the two countries was strengthened in 2014 - with the visit of Prime Minister Tony Abbott to India in September 2014, and the visit of PM Modi to Australia in November 2014. Framework for Security Cooperation between Australia and India signed in November 2014 during the visit of PM Modi to Australia laid the foundation for intensified foreign, defence and security policy exchanges between the two countries. Since then, regular meetings of the institutional dialogues have been taking place," MEA said.

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In 2018-19, the trade between the two countries was around USD 21 billion. Australia's cumulative investment in India is about USD 10.74 billion whereas India's total investment in Australia is USD 10.45 billion, MEA added.

Australia has supported India’s global initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance (ISA), CDRI and Indo-Pacific Oceans’ Initiative (IPOI). Australia supports India’s membership of an expanded United Nations Security Council (UNSC). In the recent past, Australia supported our membership for Australia Group, and Wassenaar Arrangement and favours India’s membership of NSG.

The Virtual Summit will be an opportunity for the two leaders to review the broad framework of the relationship, in the context of growing ties between India and Australia, and to discuss their respective responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the lead-up to the summit, PM Modi and Scott Morrison had engaged in 'Samosa diplomacy' with the latter cooking samosas and expressing how he'd have liked to have shared them with his Indian counterpart.

(With ANI inputs)