Temple attacks in Australia ‘worrying’: PM Modi to Australian counterpart Albanese

New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday raised concerns over recent attacks on temples in Australia as well as pro-Khalistani activities there with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, who assured him that the safety of Indians was a “special priority” for him.

After the first India-Australia summit talks on a range of key issues, Albanese said both sides are looking at firming up the ambitious Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) by 2023 while a joint statement mentioned that the two prime ministers tasked the concerned officials to expedite the conclusion of a Migration and Mobility Partnership Arrangement (MMPA) within the next three months.

It said Modi and Albanese agreed that the ‘India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ was beneficial not only for both countries but also for an open, inclusive, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific, where the rules-based international order is upheld.

In his media statement, Modi, standing alongside Albanese, described as a “matter of regret” the reports of attacks on temples in Australia over the past few weeks.

“The Indian community is making a significant contribution to the society and economy of Australia. It is a matter of regret that attacks on temples have been regularly reported in Australia over the past few weeks,” Modi said.

“It is natural that such news worries the people in India, and disturbs our minds. I have shared these feelings and concerns of ours with Prime Minister Albanese. And he has assured me that the safety of the Indian community is a special priority for him. Our teams will be in regular touch on this topic, and will cooperate as much as possible,” Modi said.

Briefing reporters on the summit, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said there were discussions on the disturbances created by pro-Khalistani groups in Australia as well, adding Prime Minister Modi expressed strong concern on the incidents of vandalism and violence targeting the Indian community and temples in that country.

Kwatra said Prime Minister Albanese assured Modi that his government has a deep understanding and appreciation of India’s concerns and will be taking all necessary measures to ensure that peace and harmony prevail in the society.

“Our concerns and our sentiments both relating to the incidents of vandalism of temples and the of pro-Khalistani activities in Australia were shared very frankly with the Prime Minister of Australia who in turn assured that they would look into this and take whatever is the suitable measures they need to take to address and mitigate this challenge,” he said.

The foreign secretary said it was agreed at the talks that the officials on both sides would stay in regular touch with each other on these matters.

The two sides inked four agreements providing for cooperation in areas of sports, innovation, audio-visual production and solar power following the talks between the two leaders.

The joint statement said Modi and Albanese tasked the concerned officials on both sides to expedite the conclusion of an ambitious and balanced MMPA within the next three months, which will promote the mobility of students, researchers and professionals.

It said the two prime ministers looked forward to swift progress in negotiations and for an early conclusion of an ambitious CECA, to realise the full potential of the bilateral economic relationship.

The joint statement also said that Modi and Albanese renewed their commitment to supporting an open, inclusive, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific where sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected, in remarks that came amid China’s growing assertiveness in the region.

The joint statement said Modi and Albanese reiterated the importance of adherence to international law, particularly the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to meet challenges to the rules-based order, including in the South China Sea.

There has been growing global concerns over China’s military offensive in the South China Sea.

Modi and Albanese underscored the importance of disputes being resolved peacefully in accordance with international law without threat or use of force or any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo, the statement said, in an oblique reference to Chinese activities in the region.

“They called for any Code of Conduct in the South China Sea to be effective, substantive and fully consistent with international law, without prejudice to the legitimate rights and interests of any state, including those not party to these negotiations, and support existing inclusive regional architecture,” it said.

The joint statement said the two prime ministers recognised their shared commitment to an Indian Ocean region that was open, stable, prosperous, and respectful of sovereignty.

Modi and Albanese also strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and emphasised the need for strengthened international cooperation to combat the menace in a comprehensive and sustained manner.

“They called upon all countries to work together to root out terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupt terrorist networks and their financing channels and halt use of terrorist proxies and cross-border movement of terrorists. They reiterated their condemnation of terrorist attacks in India and Australia, including the Mumbai and Pathankot attacks,” the joint statement said.

The prime ministers reiterated the urgent need for all countries to take immediate, sustained, verifiable and irreversible action to ensure that no territory under their control is used for terrorist attacks, and to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of such attacks.

On the Ukraine crisis, the two prime ministers underlined the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

“They reiterated that the conflict was causing immense human suffering, exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economic system,” the joint statement said.

In his remarks, Modi described the security cooperation as an important pillar of the India-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership and said he and Albanese had a detailed discussion on maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region.

He said the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) signed by the two sides last year has opened up better opportunities for trade and investment between the two countries and “our teams are also working on the CECA.”

The discussions were focused on boosting cooperation in clean energy, trade and investment, defence and security, critical minerals, migration and mobility, supply chains, education, culture and sports.

“The overall atmosphere of discussion was extremely positive, productive and engaging. The leaders were happy with the progress achieved in our multifaceted bilateral cooperation with the engagements and outcomes revolving around sectors of education, energy, sports, defence innovation and technology,” Kwatra said.

He said “significant progress” has been made in the discussions on migration and mobility partnership agreement.

Asked whether increasing cooperation between India and Australia is a derivative of China’s belligerence, Kwatra rejected such a notion.

He said the bilateral ties are comprehensive and “naturally in this cooperation one of the elements is the challenges that both our countries face in the maritime domain.”

“It is best that we position what India and Australia do between them as a bilateral ecosystem of engagement and partnership and frankly not a derivative of what a third country does,” he said.

Asked whether the Adani-Hindenburg issue was raised by the Australian side, Kwatra said it was not raised.

In his comments, Albanese said Modi and he agreed on concluding the India-Australia CECA. “I am hopeful that we will be able to finalise it this year.”

The “transformational deal” will realise the full potential of the bilateral economic relationship, creating new employment opportunities and raising living standards for the people of both Australia and India, the Australian prime minister, who is on a three-day visit to India, said.

Modi said there were discussions on maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region and enhancing mutual defence and security cooperation.

“In the field of defence, we have made remarkable agreements in the last few years, including logistics support for each other’s militaries. There is also regular and useful exchange of information between our security agencies, and we discussed further strengthening this,” Modi said.

He also noted that mutual cooperation to develop reliable and strong global supply chains also figured in the discussions.

In his remarks, Albanese described his country’s relationship with India as “multifaceted” and said he was looking forward to hosting Modi in Australia for the Quad leaders’ summit in May and then returning to India in September for the G20 summit.

“Prime Minister Modi and I discussed the strength of our economic relationship, demonstrated by the entry into force of the landmark India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement last year,” he said.

He said it has eliminated tariffs on more than 85 per cent of Australian goods exported to India, benefiting Indian consumers and providing cheaper inputs for Indian industry.

“I am proud of the existing cooperation between Australia and India on solar and hydrogen, two technologies that are critical to our energy transition goals and the opportunities for us to work more closely to secure critical mineral supply chains,” Albanese said.

“I’m pleased that today we have exchanged terms of reference for the Australia India Solar Taskforce,” he said.

They also discussed the increasingly uncertain global security environment and committed to strengthening the Australia-India defence and security partnership to address shared challenges as well as to work towards an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

“I welcome increased defence information sharing between Australia and India, including in the maritime domain,” he said.

Albanese said Australia is honoured to be hosting the Malabar naval exercise this year.

The officials have made significant progress on a new migration and mobility partnership arrangement, he said, adding the arrangement will promote and support the mobility of students, graduates, academic researchers, business people and other professionals.

The two sides have also exchanged a revised sports memorandum of understanding which will promote cooperation between our sport-loving nations, including recognising equality, diversity and inclusion in sports, he added.