PM Modi, Albanese announce Uranium Deal, Defence Cooperation to deepen India-Australia ties
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese on Thursday unveiled a series of major initiatives to strengthen the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, with agreements spanning uranium supply, defence, clean energy, trade, critical minerals and emerging technologies.
A key outcome of the summit was an agreement for Australia to commercially supply uranium to India for peaceful civil nuclear energy, supporting New Delhi's target of achieving 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047. The deal builds on the civil nuclear cooperation framework signed between the two countries and is expected to enhance India's clean energy transition.
The two leaders also agreed to deepen cooperation in defence and maritime security, expand collaboration in critical minerals, cyber security, artificial intelligence, space, renewable energy and education, while reaffirming their commitment to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.
On the economic front, India and Australia pledged to accelerate negotiations for a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA) to boost bilateral trade and investment. Modi also invited greater Australian participation in India's infrastructure and manufacturing sectors.
The visit also saw fresh investment commitments, including an additional AUD 500 million investment by AustralianSuper in India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), further strengthening economic ties between the two countries.
Addressing the Indian diaspora in Melbourne later in the day, Modi described India and Australia as trusted partners and said the relationship would continue to expand across strategic, economic and people-to-people dimensions.
