Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong Meets PM Modi

In a post on X, PM Modi said India and Australia will continue to work for a free, open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

Prime Minister Modi said, “I am pleased to receive the Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Senator Penny Wong. We discussed the growing India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in areas such as defence, trade, technology and ensuring supply chain resilience. India and Australia will continue to work for a free, open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific.”

Penny Wong, who attended the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting, later said the group had introduced a number of new initiatives.

“Every meeting we hold, we are focused on momentum and making sure we deliver real results… Our obligation and responsibility is to deliver real choices, especially as strategic conditions in our region (the Indo-Pacific) deteriorate,” he said.

She noted that the region is facing acute economic stress and highlighted concerns over the potential Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz and its impact on energy security.

“We appreciate Secretary Rubio’s efforts towards a diplomatic solution to restore freedom of navigation. We recognize the importance of preserving the principle of freedom of navigation and our opposition to any coercive proposals. The Quartet is putting forward a series of new initiatives today, an energy security initiative,” Wong added.

The Australian Foreign Minister also spoke about the Quad Ports of the Future Partnership.

“Today we are also announcing the strongest ever commitment from the Quad to the Pacific through the Quad Ports of the Future Partnership, where we are launching a pilot for port infrastructure in Fiji,” he said.

Wong added that the Quad countries are focused on improving maritime security and surveillance in the Indo-Pacific.

“You see that we will be coordinating our maritime surveillance efforts primarily in the Indian Ocean and in Exercise Malabar through the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Cooperation Initiative,” he said.

He also said the Quad is expanding its maritime domain awareness initiative to the Indian Ocean to help combat illegal fishing and smuggling and support humanitarian disaster response.

“We are also working together to strengthen cooperation against fraud hubs, build law enforcement capacity and deepen cyber cooperation, especially in South East Asia. We know we work better in partnership in our region,” Wong said.

Speaking to the media later, Penny Wong said that Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had announced that Prime Minister Modi will visit Australia soon.

“My Prime Minister today announced that Prime Minister Modi will visit Australia in the very near future. We are looking forward to this visit,” he said.

Underlining the strong ties between the two countries, Wong said India and Australia share the vision of a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

“We want to work together for our region and our people,” he said.

“We are comprehensive strategic partners. We have a relationship of strategic trust. We have a great deal of strategic alignment. And our economic ties continue to deepen. India is the world’s fastest-growing major economy. It is an important economic partner for Australia,” Wong added.