Opening remarks by EAM Dr. S. Jaishankar at the 16th India- Australia Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue

Excellency, Minister Penny,

It is a great pleasure to welcome you and your delegation to India for the 16th India-Australia Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue. I put a lot of value on our frequent engagements and I do believe that they actually offer us a certain continuity of discussions and communication and understanding, and the result of that I truly believe today we have a comfort level that has never been as strong as it is right now.

2. Now, the Foreign Ministers' Framework Dialogue has been one of the key pillars of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and it surely reflects the trust, the democratic values, and a common vision for a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific.

3. As we mark 5 years of that Partnership, the warmth and the ease of cooperation is there for all to witness. We have seen a remarkable expansion across all pillars of cooperation including trade & investment, defence & security, education & skills, research & innovation, science & technology, space, energy, and so on, but most of all, our vibrant people-to-people links. Our growing partnership obviously owes much to the guidance and vision of our Prime Ministers. Today’s meeting offers an excellent opportunity for us to not only review the progress achieved, but also to set the agenda and course for the next phase of ties and the recommendations that we would make to our Prime Ministers, I think would be key for them to take into account when they will meet very soon.

4. There are of course different aspects to our ties, different dimensions. From Defence and Security, we had your Defence Minister & Deputy Prime Minister visit us in June for the 5th anniversary of the CSP, our defence Minister was in Australia just recently, I thank you very much for the warmth of your welcome, and I think today whether it is our large and complex bilateral and multilateral exercises, our interoperability, the work that we do in maritime domain awareness, cyber security – I think really reflect the confidence in our relationship.

5. Our trade and investment linkages have also grown steadily, and the ongoing negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement – I am confident will be concluded very soon, I know our Commerce and Industry Minister who was again in Australia just a few days, they made good progress, but the bottom line is that the trade numbers today speak for themselves and those numbers are looking increasingly good.

6. In the realm of skills and education, our universities have actually provided the lead in creating new formats of innovation. We are very welcoming of many of your universities who are already here, and we hope many more would follow suit, and they have actually I think added a very important dimension to our cooperation in India.

7. Our Energy dialogue again has moved forward. Minister Bowen and Minister Khattar had their meeting and the India-Australia Renewable Partnership which was announced by our leaders at the Annual Summit last year is a reflection of that particular priority.

8. Let me take the opportunity as well to express our appreciation for your support for our Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission and we welcome Australia’s plans to launch its satellite from an Indian launch vehicle.

9. I have spoken about the diaspora, the living bridge which is so important in our relations.

10. And finally, the current complex geopolitical situation, I think it is clearly evident that democracies like India and Australia carry greater responsibility, there are common challenges for us to address, including maritime security, resilient supply chains, or for that matter, countering terrorism and ensuring climate action. So it is essential that we sustain the strong momentum in our ties, that we deliver tangible outcomes, that we work together to achieve this through shared regional and global priorities.

11. Once again, a very warm welcome to India, and I look forward to your opening remarks.