September 2014 File Photo: Australian PM Tony Abbott with PM Narendra Modi during his visit to India.
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Australia for the G-20 meet, his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott called him on Friday morning to discuss the agenda for the multilateral meeting. He asked PM Modi to share, in particular, his vision for accelerating global economic growth and employment generation.
Mr Abbott conveyed that he and the Australian people were keenly awaiting the four-city bilateral visit of Prime Minister Modi, who appreciated the Australian Prime Minister's personal attention to his visit and emphasised the importance he attached to his trip to Australia as a step towards qualitatively transforming a relationship that he greatly values.
PM Modi also thanked Tony Abbott for his special gesture of planning to host a reception for him at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Prime Minister Modi will be traveling to Australia from Myanmar on November 14 and apart from attending the G-20, will hold bilateral meetings.
"Prime Minister Abbott invited Prime Minister Modi to share, in particular, his vision for accelerating global economic growth and employment generation, based on his personal experiences of reforms and growth at the state level and his plans for India. Prime Minister Abbott also sought PM's support for Australia's infrastructure initiatives in the G-20," a PMO release said in New Delhi.
On his part, PM Modi thanked Tony Abbott for his leadership in developing a meaningful agenda for the G-20 Summit and expressed confidence that it would be one of the most memorable G-20 Summits, which will impart new momentum to the global economy.
"Describing G-20 as the key forum for global economic coordination, Prime Minister Modi looked forward to attending his first G-20 Summit. Prime Minister offered full support for Prime Minister Abbott's priorities for the G-20 Summit," it said.
PM Modi shared his concerns on "jobless growth" prospects and felt that focusing on transforming the quality of life of people, apart from issues like the health of the financial markets, was necessary for creating employment-generating economic growth, the release said.
He also suggested that, in addition to facilitating financial flows for infrastructure financing, there was a need to look at innovative mechanisms for infrastructure development, including research on transforming waste into infrastructure inputs, it said.
During the telephonic conversation, PM Modi also talked about creating a virtual centre for information exchange, guidance, identifying opportunities and facilitating flows, which would be beneficial to the poor countries as well.