Australia will partner with India to boost investment in renewable energy, including solar manufacturing, battery and mineral processing, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a meeting with his Indian counterpart on the G20 sidelines.
Australia and India will also look to enhance defence and maritime security cooperation, Albanese said in a meeting with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.
The two countries, along with the United States and Japan, are members of the Quad, which has sought to balance China’s rising military and economic clout in the Indo Pacific region.
Australia was the largest producer per capita of rooftop solar in the world, and projects with India will include training a rooftop solar workforce as India seeks to boost household use of renewables, Albanese said.
”Our new partnership will boost two-way investment in renewable energy projects like solar PV manufacturing, battery and mineral processing, green hydrogen and green iron,” he said, according to an official transcript.
”Australia’s relationship with India is also vital to regional security and stability,” he added.
Modi said they were exploring new cooperation on defence industry, critical minerals, renewable energy, ship building, space, according to the transcript.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute in a report on Wednesday said the Quad plus countries such as South Korea needed to cooperate more on critical minerals processing, including harmonising industrial policies and building stockpiles, to overcome ”China’s manipulation of the global critical minerals market”.
Australia has rich deposits of copper, vanadium, cobalt and lithium used in electric vehicle batteries.
China is a major investor in Australia’s critical minerals sector and the Albanese government faced a challenge in diversifying investment to avoid a greater concentration of the supply chain, it said.
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