Page 5 - The Indian EYE 031723

BIG STORY MARCH 17, 2023 | The Indian Eye 5

day. The PM while speaking alongside cording to the trade agreement signed
Australian PM Anthony Albanese, last year between the two countries,”
said: “On this subject, our teams will he said.
be in regular touch and will cooperate Shedding light on the bilateral
as best as possible. It is important to talks between Prime Minister Nar-
deal with such challenges and global endra Modi and his Australian coun-
well-being.” terpart Anthony Albanese, Foreign
The PM said that the Indian dias- Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Friday
pora is now the second-largest immi- said that PM Albanese’s visit to India
grant community in Australia. “This underlines his enthusiasm and com-
Indian community is contributing a lot mitment to India-Australia ties.
to the society and economy of Austra- He further said that both lead-
lia,” the PM said. ers were satisfied with the “all-round
The Indian High Commission progress” in various areas of the
in Canberra recently condemned the partnership between the two nations
“deeply disturbing” incidents of van- across fields including trade. Both the
dalization of three Hindu temples in prime ministers met for the first In-
Melbourne, and asked the Australian dia-Australia Annual Summit talks at
Government to ensure the safety and The Australian Prime Minister inside the cockpit of Light Combat Aircraft onboard INS Vikrant Hyderabad House in New Delhi.
security of members of the Indian “Both leaders (PM Modi-PM Al-
community and their properties in the in Mumbai on Thursday (ANI) banese) assessed very clearly & not-
country. ed with great satisfaction the strong
In January, ISKCON’s Hare “I look forward to hosting PM 45 to 50 billion dollars by 2035. all-round progress across a range of
Krishna Temple was vandalized in Modi in Australia for the Quad Lead- In the joint press conference on areas, including science and technol-
Melbourne’s Albert Park area. Shri ers’ summit in May and then return- Friday, Albanese said that Australia ogy, strategic & security domain, re-
Shiva Vishnu Temple in Carrum ing to India in September for the also agreed to strengthen its defense newable energy partnership in critical
Downs was vandalized on January 16 G20 Leaders’ summit. The frequent partnerships with India. “We agreed minerals, trade & economic engage-
and BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in high-level content between Australia on an early conclusion of our ambi- ment,” the Foreign Secretary said
the Mill Park area on January 12. and India has further strengthened tious Comprehensive Economic Co- during a press conference.
“The High Commission of India cooperation across a range of areas operation Agreement as soon as pos- The full set of comprehensive
strongly condemns the deeply disturb- including trade & investment, climate sible. I am hopeful that we will be able progress that the two countries have
ing incidents of vandalization, includ- and energy, defense and security, and to finalize it this year,” he said. achieved since the relationship was
ing of three Hindu temples in Mel- between the people of our two coun- He further said that CECA will upgraded to a comprehensive, strate-
bourne in recent weeks. The frequency tries.” open new employment opportunities gic partnership in 2020.
and impunity with which the vandals Last year, both the countries had for both countries. Pointing that Albanese’s visit
appear to be operating are alarming, signed a free trade agreement called “CECA will open new employ- and today’s annual summit will take
as are the graffiti which includes glori- the Economic Cooperation and Trade ment opportunities for both countries. India-Australia ties to a higher level,
fication of anti-Indian terrorists,” read Agreement. The bilateral trade be- We will finalize and hope for an early Vinay Kwatra said, “PM Albanese’s
a release issued by the Indian High tween the two countries amounts to conclusion of CECA this year. Aus- visit underlines his enthusiasm & com-
Commission in Canberra on its offi- nearly 27 billion dollars in 2021-22. tralia has eliminated tariffs on 85 per mitment to India-Australia ties. It is
cial Twitter handle @HCICanberra. The bilateral trade is expected to cross cent of goods exported to India ac- also the first annual summit between
The commission said that these India & Australia at the level of the
vandalization incidents are clear at- leaders. The Summit mechanism was
tempts to sow hatred and division established as an outcome of the 2nd
among the peaceful multi-faith and virtual Summit held in March last year.”
multi-cultural Indian-Australian com- Kwatra mentioned PM Alba-
munity. nese’s visit to INS Vikrant on Thurs-
But despite such incidents, the day and said that he was the first
relations between the two countries foreign leader to get onboard the in-
are growing. India and Australia are digenously built aircraft carrier since
working towards a Comprehensive its commissioning last year. “PM Al-
Economic Cooperation Agreement, banese was particularly appreciative
Anthony Albanese said on Friday em- of his visit to INS Vikrant - we are told
phasizing that people-to-people con- the first foreign leader to do so since
nect have been the foundation of ties the first indigenously-built aircraft
between the two countries. carrier was commissioned last Sep-
The Australian PM further said tember,” he said.
that he is hopeful that the agreement Calling PM Albanese’s visit as a
will be finalized this year. Addressing a testimony of his commitment towards
joint press conference with PM Modi the ties between the two countries,
after bilateral level talks were held at Kwatra said, “PM Albanese’s visit un-
Hyderabad House earlier this morn- derlines his enthusiasm and commit-
ing Albanese said that Australia’s re- ment to India-Australia ties. It is also
lationship with India is multifaceted. the first annual summit between India
Albanese said that high-level and Australia at the level of the lead-
contact between the two countries Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and Anthony Albanese with the ers. The Summit mechanism was es-
has further strengthened cooperation dabbawallas in Mumbai on Thursday (ANI) tablished as an outcome of the 2nd vir-
across many sectors. tual Summit held in March last year.”

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