Australian PM Scott Morrison keen to strengthen ties with India

New Delhi: Ahead of Australian PM Scott Morrison’s visit to India early next year and with Canberra keen to lessen its reliance on China in hi-tech sectors, a top Australian official said that India and Australia would be looking to further their cooperation in areas including cyber and critical technologies.

Australian Deputy High Commissioner Rod Hilton, in his address at the Chanakya Chakra forum on Foreign and security policies, said that 5G and 6G and quantum computing are priority areas for both sides.

He outlined four key areas of cooperation, including ‘An open, inclusive and rules-based maritime order’; ‘Cyber and critical technologies’; ‘Responding to the threat of terrorism’ and ‘Promoting connectivity across the Indo-Pacific’.

Terming India a “natural partner” for Australia, Hilton said New Delhi’s “growing and strategic heft is being felt beyond the Indian Ocean, creating new opportunities for our cooperation based on shared values and outlook”.

He said Australia sees India as having a role to play in shaping the regional trading order prompting the benefit of free and open trade and improving economic governance in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. (IANS)

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