India and Australia ink five MoUs during PM Modi's visit

India and Australia on Tuesday inked five Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs).

The agreements were signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the country from November 16 to November 18, which have included stopovers in Brisbane, Sydney and Canberra so far.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Melbourne for an interaction with the ex-patriate Indian community at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), besides attending other engagements, before emplaning for Fiji for the final leg of his three-nation visit.

The agreements signed include one on social security. The other pacts signed concern the transfer of sentenced persons, combating narcotics trafficking and developing police cooperation, cooperation in the field of arts and culture and lastly in the field of tourism.

Prime Minister Modi, who was in Canberra today, has now left for Melbourne, entering the fourth leg of his four-city tour of Australia.

Before leaving from Canberra, Prime Minister Modi, earlier in the day addressed a special joint sitting of the Australian Parliament where he said that India and Australia can play their part in expanding their bilateral security cooperation and deepening their international partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region to counter menacing challenges like the threat of terrorism.