Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's statement to the Press after meeting his Australian counterpart

It is an honour for me to welcome the Prime Minister of Australia, His Excellency Kevin Rudd on his first visit to India as Prime Minister.

I have had extremely productive discussions with Prime Minister Rudd.

India and Australia are two multicultural, plural democracies. We share the values of cultural diversity, respect for fundamental freedoms, human rights and rule of law. We have both decided to harness these common values for mutual benefit.

Building upon the significant expansion of our relations in recent years we have decided to upgrade our relations to the level of a "Strategic Partnership". The Joint Statement and the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation that we have agreed upon charts out the future course of our relations. We have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of water resources.

These decisions will further strengthen our partnership in the areas of political, security and defence interaction, trade and investment, energy and natural resources, science and technology, education, culture and people to people contacts.

We have decided to constitute a CEOs Forum to boost to our trade and economic ties. We have agreed to expedite the finalization of the feasibility study on a Free Trade Agreement between our two countries in order to harness our economic complementarities for mutual benefit.

Australia has emerged as a major destination for Indian students with more than 80,000 students pursuing studies in Australia. I conveyed my concerns to Prime Minister Rudd about the safety, security and well being of our students and the Indian community in Australia.

The Prime Minster assured me that Australia is fully committed to ensuring their security and will take all steps necessary in this regard, including the strengthening of regulatory measures. We have decided to institute an annual Ministerial level dialogue on education between our two countries.

We also exchanged views on regional and global issues. We have agreed to work towards the creation of an open, inclusive and transparent architecture in the Asia-Pacific region building upon the East Asia Summit process. We will intensify our cooperation in the fight against international terrorism, and work towards the promotion of peace and stability in Afghanistan.

We reiterated our commitment to achieving a balanced and successful outcome at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, continuing our cooperation on global economic issues within the framework of the G 20 process, and on achieving universal and complete nuclear disarmament.

Prime Minister Rudd's visit has imparted a new focus and direction to relations between our two countries. India looks forward to working with Australia to tap the full potential of our relations in the years ahead.

I invite Prime Minister Rudd to make his remarks.