According to Indian media, a spokesperson for the Indian Foreign Ministry said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison on Thursday agreed to use each other’s military bases. The spokesperson said that the agreement on mutual logistical support between Prime Minister Modi and Scott Morrison was reached at the Virtual Summit. India and the United States have a similar agreement as part of security cooperation between the two countries to maintain China’s economic development and military balance in the region. Indian troops are locked in a standoff with Chinese troops on their disputed border, the most serious crisis in years, on top of concerns about a huge trade imbalance in Beijing’s favour. Australia’s trade frictions with China are also growing, and its push last month for an international review into the origins and spread of the novel coronavirus drew opposition from China. Morrison was due in India in January but was forced to cancel the trip because of the bushfires crisis in Australia. The holding of the summit now, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, showed the importance the two leaders attached to bilateral ties, officials said. “This is the first time that Prime Minister Modi will be holding a bilateral virtual summit. This signifies the strengthening of ties with Australia and its upward trajectory,” Indian foreign ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said before the signing of the deal. India is also considering Australia’s participation in annual naval exercises it holds with the US and Japan in the Indian and Pacific Oceans in a cementing of security ties between the four countries, military officials said.