India and Australia began the high-level 2+2 foreign and defence ministerial dialogue in New Delhi.

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External affairs minister S Jaishankar and defence minister Rajnath Singh held the closed-door talks with their Australian counterparts Marise Payne and Peter Dutton.

The dialogue is aimed at further ramping up the overall defence and strategic cooperation between the two countries, including in the Indo-Pacific amid China’s increasing military assertiveness in the region.

The foreign and defence ministerial talks are taking place amid renewed efforts by the Quad member countries to expand cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. Besides India and Australia, the Quad comprises the US and Japan