Seeking to enhance India’s military ties with Australia, defence minister A.K. Antony arrived in Perth Tuesday on a historic visit to co-chair a bilateral security dialogue amid “profound” strategic changes in the Asia-Pacific region. He is scheduled to attend the Australia-India defence ministers’ dialogue with his counterpart Stephen Smith, to be held in the Australian capital Canberra Wednesday.
Mr Antony, who is the first ever Indian defence minister to visit Australia, landed in the western city of Perth and met Mr Smith and was also greeted at a reception attended by prominent members of Western Australian and Indian academic, business and community organisations.
His visit comes days after the Australian government released a defence white paper recently which noted that, “India is emerging as an important strategic, diplomatic and economic actor, ‘looking east,’ and becoming more engaged in regional frameworks.”
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Minister may visit china by end of month
Age Correspondent
new delhi, June 4
Defence minister A.K. Antony, who is currently on a three-nation official visit to Singapore, Australia and Thailand from June 3 to 6, may also visit China by the end of this month. India and China are expected to discuss continuation of efforts to maintain peace and tranquillity on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the wake of the recent Chinese incursion 19 km into Indian territory in eastern Ladakh.
Meanwhile, the ministry of defence announced that India and Singapore have signed a fresh agreement to extend the use of training and exercise facilities in India by the Singapore Army for a further period of five years from August this year. The agreement was signed by the Indian defence secretary R.K. Mathur and the Singaporean permanent secretary of defence Chiang Chie Foo in the presence of Mr Antony and Singapore’s defence minister Ng Eng Hen.