India-Australia Ties

"Australia joins wholeheartedly in its celebration of independence and extends our warm congratulations to the people of India," he said

7 pacts signed in an e-summit between PM Modi and his Australian counterpart

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Saturday officially postponed his four-day state visit to India from January 13 due to the raging bushfire crisis in his country, saying he looks forward to rescheduling the visit at a mutually convenient time in the coming months. He was scheduled to hold extensive bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the visit beginning January 13. In a statement, the Australian Prime Minister said: "Our country is facing devastating and widespread national bushfires. Our government's entire focus is on supporting Australians in this difficult time those facing immediate danger and those who are recovering after the fire-front has passed". The Prime Minister has postponed his state visit to India and his official visit to Japan to stay close to the disaster and recovery operations underway in Australia, the statement said. "We deeply appreciate the arrangements that India and Japan have made to date and look forward to rescheduling

To focus on the RCEP, India had earlier decided to hold off talks on bilateral FTAs with both the nations

He said there is a strong market for lithium in India given the government's ambitious plans for electric vehicles

Holding next round of talks on comprehensive economic cooperation agreement also discussed