Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi following talks with Foreign Minister Senator Penny Wong in New Delhi said the two countries discussed strengthening the Australia-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership across multiple sectors.
“Happy to receive Senator Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia. We discussed the growing India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in areas such as defence, trade, technology and ensuring supply chain resilience,” PM Modi said.
“India and Australia will continue to work for a free, open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific.”
Senator Wong later confirmed that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had announced PM Modi’s upcoming Australia visit.
“My Prime Minister has today announced that Prime Minister Modi will visit Australia in the very near future. We look forward to that visit.”
In a separate statement after meeting PM Modi, Wong described the engagement as an important moment in a relationship that had grown significantly under both leaders.
“An honour to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his visit to Australia later this year,” Senator Wong said.
“Australia and India’s relationship has reached new heights under his leadership and the leadership of @albomp. We look forward to hosting PM Modi and further deepening our cooperation.”
Senator Wong also thanked India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar for hosting both the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the 17th Australia-India Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue in New Delhi.
“I thanked Dr S Jaishankar for the warm welcome to India, and for hosting the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting as well as the 17th Australia-India Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue,” she said.
Senator Wong said the relationship between Canberra and New Delhi was increasingly built on “strategic trust”.
“As Comprehensive Strategic Partners, the Australia-India relationship is anchored in strategic trust,” she noted.
“In a more uncertain world, this trust is deeply valued by Australia — and Australia remains a reliable partner for India.”
The Quad meeting brought together foreign ministers from Australia, India, Japan and the United States, with discussions focused on regional security, maritime cooperation, critical minerals, infrastructure and humanitarian coordination across the Indo-Pacific.
“Quad Foreign Ministers are focused on driving momentum and delivering meaningful outcomes for our people and for the Indo-Pacific,” Senator Wong said.
“I thank Dr S Jaishankar and India for hosting today’s Quad FMM in Delhi as we work to build a peaceful, stable and prosperous region.”
Senator Wong said the four nations had agreed to launch several new regional initiatives, including cooperation involving the Pacific.
“We agreed a new Energy Security Initiative, a new Quad Ports of the Future Partnership — including a pilot for port infrastructure in Fiji — and an expansion of our maritime and humanitarian cooperation to the Indian Ocean,” she said.
“We’re also taking forward the Quad Critical Minerals initiative — a framework to strengthen cooperation on critical minerals supply chains, financing and investment, processing and recycling.”
The growing diplomatic engagement comes as Australia and India rapidly expand ties under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership across defence, clean energy, education, mobility, technology and maritime security.
Speaking recently at Parliament House in Canberra during celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the Australia-India Business Council (AIBC), Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praised the contribution of Indian Australians and described the diaspora as essential to modern Australia.
“One of the things I found, above everything else, is the warmth of the Indian people,” PM Albanese said.
“I want to thank every person who’s proud of their Indian origins and has made Australia their home, because you’ve enriched Australia through your presence.”
The Prime Minister said Indian Australians had helped build businesses, create jobs and strengthen the relationship between the two countries.
“Your entrepreneurship has helped build jobs and helped build businesses in this country. It is that link between our two countries that is so important.”
Albanese also reflected on his own travels across India and said the relationship between the two countries extended far beyond formal diplomacy.
“So, when Prime Minister Modi, of course, comes here in a short period of time, for the second time since I’ve been Prime Minister, I’m so looking forward to the engagement with the community, because it is a community without whom modern Australia would be hard to imagine,” he said.
He also used the speech to reject rhetoric drawing distinctions between migrants and Australians.
“Our position on migration, when it comes to the Indian community, is one of welcoming, welcoming as Australians,” Albanese said.
“And you will never hear from me a distinction drawn between migrants and Australians.”
The expected PM Modi visit is likely to further reinforce the increasingly close political, economic and people-to-people relationship between the two countries, with both governments positioning the partnership as central to regional stability and long-term Indo-Pacific cooperation.
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