Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday held wide-ranging talks with his Australian counterpart Peter Dutton to boost overall bilateral strategic ties. The talks took place a day ahead of the inaugural "two-plus-two" dialogue between foreign and defence ministers of India and Australia.

• At the ministerial dialogue, the two sides are also expected to discuss ways to boost cooperation in the Indo-Pacific in the face of China's growing military assertiveness in the region, diplomatic sources said.
• The dialogue between the foreign and defence ministers was instituted as part of an overall goal to expand strategic cooperation between the two countries.
• Both Australia and India are part of Quad or Quadrilateral coalition that resolved to work towards ensuring a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. The other two members of the Quad are the US and Japan.
• Expanding bilateral cooperation in areas of maritime security is expected to be another area of focus at the two-plus-two dialogue.