India, Austria talks over terrorism, developments in Indo-Pacific, COVID-19

The talks covered the entire gamut of bilateral relations, including political, economic and commercial ties as well as cultural and academic linkages, MEA said.

File Photo

New Delhi: India and Austria discussed a host of key issues during their foreign office consultations, including developments in the Indo-Pacific, terrorism and India-EU relations, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday (March 23).

The sixth Foreign Office Consultations between India and Austria took place on March 18 in the virtual format, the MEA said in a statement.

The consultations were led on the Indian side by Dammu Ravi, Additional Secretary (Europe and COVID19) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and on the Austrian side by Ambassador Gregor Koessler, Director General for Political Affairs in the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs.

India and Austria have warm and cordial relations which are based on shared values of democracy, freedom, rule of law and equality, the MEA said.

"Our bilateral relations are marked by strong linkages across institutions, academia, culture and people to people ties," it said.

The talks covered the entire gamut of bilateral relations, including political, economic and commercial ties as well as cultural and academic linkages, the statement said.

Both sides also exchanged views on the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic recovery including vaccines, it said.

Regional and global issues including developments in the Indo-Pacific, neighbourhood policy, terrorism and India-EU Relations, amongst others, were discussed, the MEA said.

Deliberations also covered issues in multilateral fora such as the United Nations reforms and India's priorities during its term in the United Nations Security Council.