'PM Modi To Visit In Near Future': Australian FM Announces As She Calls India 'Essential Economic Partner'

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced of a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Australia in the near future.Wong, while speaking to the reporters in the national capital, said, "My Prime Minister has today announced that Prime Minister Modi will visit Australia in the very near future. We look forward to that visit."Hailing the ties between the two countries, the Australian Foreign Minister underlined how they share a vision of a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific. "We want to work together for our region and for our people", she added."We (India-Australia) are comprehensive strategic partners. We have a relationship that is anchored in strategic trust. We have a great

deal of strategic alignment. And our economic ties continue to deepen," Wong said."India is the world's fastest-growing major economy. It's an essential economic partner for Australia. As we seek to diversify supply chains and grow our economy and our productivity, this relationship only grows," she added.Wong is currently participating in the Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting, which took place on Tuesday in New Delhi. The meeting was also attended by Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, among others. The leaders underlined deepening collaborations for a free and open Indo-Pacific.The foreign ministers of the Quad grouping (India, the United States, Japan and Australia) on Tuesday unveiled a broad set of initiatives focused on critical technologies, energy security, resilient supply chains and humanitarian cooperation during their meeting in New Delhi.Following the meeting, India, Australia, Japan and the United States unveiled the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative Framework, pledging to mobilise up to USD 20 billion in government and private sector support to strengthen secure and resilient critical minerals supply chains across the Indo-Pacific region.(With agency inputs)