Washington. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said that issues such as the expulsion of “spies” are raised “privately”. He made this remark on the question whether an incident involving Indian citizens would be discussed during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the ‘Quad’ summit. Albanese was responding to a question from the media ahead of his meeting with the leaders of India, the US and Japan in Delaware on Saturday. The alleged espionage incident took place in 2020 and came to light in April this year.
Albanese was asked what he would say to Modi to stop such espionage from happening on Australian soil. The Australian Prime Minister said, “I work diplomatically and have such discussions and there is no doubt that such an issue will be raised.” Albanese said in Philadelphia on Thursday, “But the relationship between Australia and India is very strong. I will talk to Prime Minister Modi about our comprehensive economic partnership, which we want to see completed. Economic relations between our two great countries have grown.
He said, “…I raise issues personally – how do we deal with things diplomatically, and I will continue to do so.” According to reports, Australia expelled two Indian spies in 2020 for allegedly trying to “steal confidential documents” about sensitive defense projects and airport security. ‘The Australian’ and ‘The Sydney Morning Herald’ said in their reports that two Indian spies were forcibly expelled, while the ‘Australian Broadcasting Corporation’ (ABC) did not give any number.
