Sushma Swaraj meets Australian Foreign Minister

Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop on 18 July met Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and discussed about deepening regional engagement, defence and security issues.

Earlier, she arrived in New Delhi on a two-day visit aimed at deepening bilateral engagement between the countries in various key sectors.

During her visit, Bishop will also call on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hold talks Defence and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar.

Australia's High Commissioner to India, Harinder Sidhu, said the visit places emphasis on India as one of Australia's top economic and security partners.

"We are committed to exploring ways to expand our engagement even further," Sidhu said.

"Our countries have a dynamic and growing knowledge partnership, flourishing people-to-people links and converging political, economic and strategic interests. And there is scope for us to do much more together," she added.

Bishop will also deliver the second Indo-Pacific Oration, setting out how Australia and India can work together to build peace, prosperity and a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific.

-ANI