Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Bowardi, UAE Minister of State for Defense Affairs, and Christopher Pyne, the Australian Minister for Defense, held on Wednesday discussions on ways of boosting bilateral defense and military cooperation between the two friendly countries, Emirates news agency WAM reported.

The two Defense Ministers also tackled an array of regional and global developments of mutual concern, in the presence of Lt. General Hamad Mohammed Thani Al Rumaithi, Chief-of-Staff of the UAE Armed Forces; General Angus Campbel, the Chief of the Defense Force; Rear Admiral Hatcher, Commander of Australian Forces in the Middle East region, and Arthur Spyrou, Australian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.