External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held talks with visiting Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, focusing on further strengthening strategic linkages to address contemporary challenges effectively. Marlers is coming on a four-day visit to India from Monday.

It is the first high-level visit to India by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s centre-left Labour party after defeating his predecessor Scott Morrison’s Conservative coalition in parliamentary elections last month. Relations between India and Australia have been upward over the past few years.

In April, the two countries signed a trade agreement to diversify bilateral trade. In June 2020, India and Australia upgraded their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership and signed a landmark agreement to provide reciprocal access to military bases for logistical support.

The Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) allows the two countries’ militaries to use each other’s bases for repairs and supplies while promoting the expansion of overall defence cooperation. The Australian Navy took part in a Malabar Naval Exercise hosted by India in November 2020 and last year.