Abbott calls Modi ahead of Australia visit, discusses G-20 agenda

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Australia for the G-20, his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott called him this morning to discuss the agenda for the multilateral and asked Modi to share, in particular, his vision for accelerating global economic growth and employment generation.

Abbott conveyed that he and the Australian people were keenly awaiting the four-city bilateral visit of Modi, who appreciated the Australian Prime Minister’s personal attention to his visit and emphasised the importance he attached to his trip to Australia as a step towards qualitatively transforming a relationship that he greatly values.

Modi also thanked Abbott for his special gesture of hosting a reception for him at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Modi will be travelling to Australia from Myanmar on November 14 and apart from attending the G-20, will hold bilateral meetings.

“Prime Minister Abbott invited Prime Minister Modi to share, in particular, his vision for accelerating global economic growth and employment generation, based on his personal experiences of reforms and growth at the State level and his plans for India. Prime Minister Abbott also sought the PM’s support for Australia’s infrastructure initiatives in the G-20,” a PMO release said here.

On his part, Modi thanked Abbott for his leadership in developing a meaningful agenda for the G-20 Summit and expressed confidence that it would be one of the most memorable G-20 Summits, which will impart new momentum to global economy.

“Describing G-20 as the key forum for global economic coordination, Prime Minister Modi looked forward to attending his first G-20 Summit. Prime Minister offered full support for Prime Minister Abbott’s priorities for the G-20 Summit,” it said.

Modi shared his concerns on “jobless growth” prospects and felt that focusing on transforming the quality of the life of people, not just on issues such as the health of the financial markets, was necessary for creating employment-generating economic growth, the release said.

He also suggested that, in addition to facilitating financial flows for infrastructure financing, there was a need to look at innovative mechanisms for infrastructure development, including research on transforming waste into infrastructure inputs, it said.

During the telephonic conversation, Modi also talked about creating a virtual centre for information exchange, guidance, identifying opportunities and facilitating flows, which would be beneficial to the poor countries as well.

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