Ind-Aus Bilateral Summit: PM To Meet Scott Morrison On Mon. Australia To Make Rs 1,500 Cr Investment

The news agency reported sources as saying that announcements on space, cyber activities, technology, agriculture, education and broadcasting will also be made during the bilateral summit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (File Photo)

New Delhi: The India-Australia bilateral summit will be held on Monday during which Canberra is likely to announce an investment of Rs 1,500 crore in New Delhi in multiple sectors.

This will be the largest-ever investment by the Australian government in India, ANI reported.

The news agency reported sources as saying that announcements on space, cyber activities, technology, agriculture, education and broadcasting will also be made during the bilateral summit.

Sources, as per ANI, added both countries will also be building a centre in Canberra, Australia, to promote partnership between the two sides.

The bilateral summit will take place post the virtual meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison.

Earlier on Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that this virtual summit follows the “historic” first virtual summit held earlier on June 4, 2020, “when our bilateral relationship was elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership”.

The two leaders will during the virtual summit, take stock of the progress made on various initiatives under the comprehensive strategic partnership.

“The virtual summit will lay the way forward on new initiatives and enhanced cooperation in a diverse range of sectors,” he told a media briefing.

Earlier in June 2020, the two sides elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership and signed a landmark deal for reciprocal access to military bases for logistics support.

The Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) allows the militaries of the two countries to use each other's bases for repair and replenishment of supplies, besides facilitating scaling up of overall defence cooperation.

The India-Australia interim trade agreement, known as ‘Early Harvest Trade Agreement’, will also be concluded this month.

This comes as the economic relationship between India and Australia has grown significantly in recent years.