<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that bilateral relationship between India and Australia is being nourished by the fast-growing Indian diaspora which serves as a living bridge between the two nations. In an interview with the newspaper 'The Australian', Mr Modi said that people-to-people contact is the strong pillar of the partnership between the two countries. </p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br />''</p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;">The Prime Minister said, he wants to take India's relationship with Australia to the next level. He said, closer defence and security ties between the two nations will help ensure an open and free Indo-Pacific. Mr Modi said, he is not a person who gets satisfied easil and he has seen that Prime Minister Albanese is the same. He expressed confidence that when he and Mr Albanese are together again in Sydney, they will get the opportunity to explore how they can take the relations to the next level. Mr Modi said, they will identify new area of complementariness and can expand the cooperation.</p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"> </p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222;">He denied that the bilateral relations would be harmed by India's refusal to criticise Russia as Australia has been high critical of the country over its war with Ukraine. Mr Modi said, an advantage of being good friends is that we can discuss freely and appreciate each other's viewpoint. The Prime Minister said, Australia understands India's position and it does not impact the bilateral relationship. He hoped the visit will allow both countries to identify new areas of cooperation, ranging from new technology, clean energy, critical minerals, mining, cyber space, building resilient supply chains to movement of skilled professionals. The Prime Minister said, since his last visit the bilateral relationship has been fundamentally transformed by annual summits, an economic cooperation and trade agreement and the elevation of relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership. He said, India and Australia have progressed significantly in the areas of defence, security, investment, education, water, climate change and renewable energy, sports, science, health, culture, among others.</span></p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br />''</p>