Johannesburg | A new trilateral technology and innovation partnership between India, Australia and Canada was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday after a meeting with his Australian and Canadian counterparts on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit here.
“We are delighted to announce an Australia-Canada-India Technology and Innovation (ACITI) Partnership today,” Modi said in a social media post after meeting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Canada’s Mark Carney.
“The initiative will deepen collaboration between democratic partners across three continents and three oceans in emerging technologies, support diversification of supply chains, clean energy and mass adoption of AI,” he said.
According to a joint statement by the governments of India, Australia and Canada, the three sides agreed to “strengthen their ambition in cooperation on critical and emerging technologies to complement existing bilateral initiatives”.
The initiative will draw on the natural strengths of the three countries and have an emphasis on green energy innovation and building resilient supply chains, including in critical minerals, it said.
"It will deepen their respective ambition and strategic collaboration towards net zero and drive further diversification of supply chains towards a secure, sustainable, and resilient future.
“The partnership will also examine the development and mass adoption of artificial intelligence to improve the lives of our citizens,” the statement said.
Officials from the three countries would convene in the first quarter of 2026 to take the initiative forward.
Separately, Modi on Saturday met his British counterpart Keir Starmer and UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
“It was wonderful meeting Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Johannesburg. This year has brought new energy to the India–UK partnership and we will keep driving it forward across many domains,” Modi said in a post on X.
The prime minister said he had a “very productive” conversation with UN chief Guterres.
Addressing the opening session of the G20 Leaders’ Meeting, Modi called for a profound rethink of the global development parameters and proposed setting up of a G20 initiative to counter the drug-terror nexus and a global healthcare response team.
Johannesburg | India on Saturday proposed a G20 critical minerals circularity initiative to promote recycling, urban mining, second-life batteries and related innovations, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting that the country is fully committed to sustainability and clean energy.
In his address at the second session at the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, he also proposed setting up of a G20 Open Satellite Data Partnership whereby satellite data and analysis from G20 space agencies can be made “more accessible for countries of the Global South”.
He shared the broader points from his speech, in a series of posts on X.
The second session was on “A Resilient World --- the G20’s Contribution: Disaster Risk Reduction, Climate Change, Just Energy Transitions, Food Systems”.
“The second session at the G20 Summit in Johannesburg focussed on building a resilient world in the face of disasters, climate change and ensuring energy transitions that are just as well as robust food systems. India has been actively working on all these fronts, building a future that is human centric and inclusive,” Modi said.
India is fully committed to sustainability and clean energy, which is why “we propose a G20 Critical Minerals Circularity Initiative to promote recycling, urban mining, second-life batteries and related innovations”, he said.
He further wrote that one of the most adverse effects of climate change is in the agriculture sector, thus impacting food security.
Modi said in this regard, he highlighted how "India is addressing these challenges through the world’s largest food security and nutrition support programme, the world’s largest health insurance scheme and crop insurance scheme".
"India is also at the forefront of promoting Shree Anna or millets which are nutritious,” he said.
India believes that key global challenges can be solved with strong global cooperation, he added.
“This is what made India establish the Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group during our G20 Presidency. When it comes to disaster resilience, the approach has to be development centric not only response centric,” he emphasised.
Modi had arrived at the Waterkloof Air Force Base (AFB) in Gauteng on the outskirts of Johannesburg on Friday for the Summit hosted by South Africa.