NEW DELHI: Hosting his Australian counterpart Penny Wong for the 16th India-Australia Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue on Thursday External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that India and Australia “carry greater responsibility” in the prevailing global environment.

“The current complex geopolitical situation, I think it’s evident that democracies like India and Australia carry greater responsibility,” Jaishankar said, emphasising that both nations confront a shared set of challenges. “There are common challenges for us to address, including maritime security and resilient supply chains or for that matter, countering terrorism and ensuring climate action.”

Stressing on the momentum in bilateral economic engagement, Jaishankar said that “trade numbers are looking increasingly good” and that outcomes in the economic partnership “speak for themselves.”

“Our trade and investment linkages have also grown steadily and the ongoing negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, I am confident, will be concluded fairly soon… The trade numbers today speak for themselves and those numbers are looking increasingly good,” he said.

Responding to Jaishankar’s remarks, Wong underscored the strategic significance of the partnership and its role in shaping regional stability. “We see this partnership as critical in its own terms bilaterally but also as crucial for the region. We are comprehensive strategic partners who share a vision of a peaceful, stable, prosperous Indo-Pacific,” she said.

The two ministers are expected to review cooperation across defence, security, trade, critical minerals, mobility and regional issues during the dialogue.