External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday met with his Australian counterpart Marise Payne in Tokyo and held bilateral talks, covering a range of topics including regional and global issues.
Both the ministers travelled to Tokyo on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Quad or Quadrilateral coalition comprising India, the US, Australia and Japan.
"Warm meeting with my good friend FM @MarisePayne of Australia. Reviewed the progress in our bilateral ties after the Virtual Summit between our PMs. Discussed expanding our cooperation in global affairs & regional issues. Will work together more closely in multilateral forums," he tweeted after his meeting with Payne.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) October 7, 2020
The meeting took place amidst frostly relations of India and Australia with China.
The relation of China and Australia has been under stress over trade related issues whereas India's relations with China plummeted after recent border disputes.
The defence and security ties between India and Australia have been on an upswing in the last few years and both the countries even vowed to work together in the Indo-Pacific, a region that witnessed growing Chinese assertiveness.