Australia strongly supports India's G20 presidency: High Commissioner Barry O'Farrell

In an interview with ANI, Farrell said, "Why the G-20 is so important this year and one of the reasons that Australia so strongly supports India's G-20 presidency is because of its understanding of the need to deliver equitable, sustainable growth across the world."

"And India's focus on sustainable development goals as part of its G-20 presidency is something that Australia welcomes, something that Australia is working hard within the G-20 this year to help India achieve it," he added.

Talking about the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Australia's High Commissioner said that his country is very clear and they condemn Moscow's invasion.

The war is not only costing lives in Ukraine and in Russia but it's also added to the economic challenges across the world.

In the recent report of Defence Strategic Review 2023, Australia stated that its country needs to expand its relationships and practical cooperation with key powers, including India, and invest in regional architecture.

Over that report, Farrell said, "The great thing about our Defense Review is that it again highlights that India and Australia are the two largest coastlines that exist within the Indo-Pacific, and it calls for greater cooperation, greater collaboration, greater exercises, and greater commitment. And the good news is that's happening."

"My Deputy Prime Minister who is also the Defence Minister was the first minister to visit India after the change of government, last year. He met with Rajnath Singh and committed to further ongoing exercises between both our countries, recognizing that we had a role to play in ensuring that our navies worked and defence forces worked closely together," he added.

The Australian High Commissioner to India further stated that over the past 12 months, people have seen various Australian military heads coming to India.

India and Australia are also seeing more joint exercises designed to improve the cooperation between both countries' militaries so that whether an emergency like the tsunami from which the Quad grew, both would be better able to look after the region, he added. (ANI)