“Our relationship with India is strong, but it can be stronger," Anthony Albanese said on Saturday.

Anthony Albanese, the prime minister of Australia, will visit India for four days starting on March 8 in an effort to strengthen bilateral relations. It will be the Australian prime minister's first trip to India since 2017. 

“Our relationship with India is strong, but it can be stronger," Anthony Albanese said on Saturday.

In a statement, the Australian PM's office said Albanese will also join Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the fourth cricket Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Ahmedabad.

The statement states that his visit to Ahmedabad, Mumbai and New Delhi will further deepen Australia's strategic, economic and people-to-people ties with India, a "close friend and partner" to Canberra.

Albanese will join PM Modi for the Australia-India Annual Leaders' summit in New Delhi, it said.

“A stronger India-Australia partnership is good for the stability of our region. It also means more opportunities and more trade and investment, strengthening our economies and directly benefiting our people," Albanese said.

The Australian statement said Albanese and Modi will discuss cooperation in areas of trade and investment, renewable energy, technology and defence and security.

"As we look to the future, India will continue to be an important partner and close friend to Australia," Albanese said.

"I look forward to hosting PM Modi in Australia mid-year for the Quad Leaders' Summit and to revisiting India in September for the G20 Leaders' Summit," he said.

Albanese will be accompanied by Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell and Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Madeleine King, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) while Announcing the visit.

The MEA said Albanese will arrive in Ahmedabad on March 8 on the day of Holi and will visit Mumbai on March 9 before arriving in Delhi later in the day.

The Australian prime minister will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhawan on March 10, it said.

After that, the annual summit between Prime Ministers Modi and Albanese would be held to go through areas of collaboration under the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in addition to local and global problems of shared interest.

"Prime Minister Albanese's visit is expected to provide further momentum to the comprehensive strategic partnership," the MEA said in a statement.

India and Australia signed a historic agreement for reciprocal access to military sites for logistics assistance in June 2020, elevating their relations to a complete strategic alliance.

The Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA), which also makes it easier to expand overall defence cooperation, enables the forces of the two nations to use each other's bases for supply replenishment and repair.

Four Indian Air Force Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jets and two C-17 heavy lift aircraft participated in a 17-nation air combat exercise in Australia in August last year.

Later this year, Australia will host the Malabar naval exercise. The US, Japan, Australian, and Indian navies will all be involved.