Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott will visit India this month to progress the Indo-Australian economic and trade relationship under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.  Australian Minister for Education and Youth, Dan Tehan, in a statement, said that this will be an opportunity to progress Australia's ambitious agenda to energise and expand Australia's bilateral trade and investment relationship with India.

"Abbott will also meet Indian Ministers and business leaders during his visit to India," Tehan added.

Earlier, India and Australia had elevated their bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) and signed seven agreements including on defence and mining during a virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison.

The two countries also announced a shared vision for maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific to harness opportunities and meet challenges together as Comprehensive Strategic Partners.

Both the countries agreed to continue to deepen and broaden defence cooperation by enhancing the scope and complexity of their military exercises and engagement activities to develop new ways to address shared security challenges.
 
India and Australia also signed framework Arrangements on Cyber and Cyber-Enabled Critical Technology Cooperation and an MOU on cooperation in the field of mining and processing of Critical and Strategic Minerals, ANI said. 

The visit comes in the wake of the rapid downslide in ties between Australia and China, once Australia's largest trade partner, that saw diplomatic freeze and mounting disputes over trade, Chinese investment, the COVID-19 outbreak, and human rights abuses in China.

(SAM)