Canberra/New Delhi, June 1 (IANS) India and Australia on Monday discussed advancements in bilateral maritime security cooperation and efforts to finalise the Joint Maritime Security Collaboration Roadmap.

During the second India–Australia Defence Ministers’ Dialogue held in New Delhi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles, agreed to progress the collaborative maritime domain awareness activities by maritime patrol aircraft and explore opportunities to enhance undersea domain awareness, a joint statement issued after the meeting detailed.

Welcoming the “significant progress” in the bilateral relationship and enhanced consultation and cooperation since the inaugural Defence Ministers’ Dialogue in October 2025, both ministers advanced the long-term vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese for collaboration between the two countries to enhance collective strength, not only contributing to both countries’ security but also making an important contribution to regional peace and security.

“Ministers agreed to progress the collaborative maritime domain awareness activities by maritime patrol aircraft and explore opportunities to enhance undersea domain awareness. Ministers encouraged further cooperation between the Indian Coast Guard and Australia’s Maritime Border Command,” read the joint statement.

“Ministers affirmed the importance of enhancing cooperation with regional partners to help maintain a free, open, peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific. Ministers underscored the importance of freedom of navigation and overflight, and their strong support for unimpeded trade in the region and other lawful uses of the sea consistent with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),” it added.

It mentioned that India and Australia, as co-leads of the IORA (Indian Ocean Rim Association) Working Group on Maritime Safety and Security (WGMSS), look forward to jointly hosting a Search and Rescue (SAR) and tabletop Exercise at Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Chennai later this month to strengthen maritime safety and security cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

“Ministers undertook to explore arrangements to enhance procedural interoperability for exercises and operations, building on the 2020 Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement. They also agreed to continue aircraft deployment from each other’s territories to build operational familiarity.”

Both ministers also announced that India and Australia would begin developing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding the Provision of Defence Articles and Defence Services as the next step in deepening defence industrial collaboration.

“Ministers underscored the strategic importance of defence industrial collaboration and engagement. They welcomed Australia’s first defence trade mission to India and the Australia-India Defence Industry Roundtable, both in October 2025, as reflecting growth in the bilateral defence industry relationship. Ministers agreed to explore further exchanges including through the Joint Working Group on Defence Industry, Research, and Materiel,” the statement detailed.

Both countries are also exploring future defence science and technology research cooperation in new technology areas like sensor technologies. Marles invited India to participate in the 2026 Australian Defence Science, Technology, and Research Summit.

“Ministers appreciated the growing engagement between their armies, navies and air forces. Ministers looked forward to India’s enhanced participation in Exercise Talisman Sabre 2027. They welcomed Australia’s participation in India’s Exercise Milan in February 2026, and India’s participation in Australia’s Exercise Kakadu in March 2026. Ministers looked forward to their countries’ participation in each other’s multinational air exercises in 2026, including operationalising the bilateral Implementing Arrangement on Air-to-Air Refuelling at Exercise Pitch Black.”

Welcoming the expansion of military cooperation into new areas, Singh and Marles noted the evolution of army Exercise Austrahind this year to focus on amphibious combat and littoral manoeuvre. Australia welcomed India’s inaugural participation in Operation Render Safe 2026 while India welcomed Australia’s invitation for participation in submarine rescue exercise Black Carillon.

Acknowledging the importance of secure bilateral communications at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels, the two ministers said that they are looking forward to the inaugural Joint Staff Talks later this year.

“In the context of cooperation on training, Ministers encouraged their officials to finalise arrangements for deployment of an Indian visiting instructor at the Australian Defence College in 2028-2029, to strengthen professional military engagement, knowledge exchange, and strategic alignment.”

Both ministers also welcomed the growing strategic convergence between India, Australia, Japan and the United States in the Indo-Pacific and reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing collaboration on maritime domain awareness to increase interoperability among the partners.

“Ministers expressed strong support for the Quad Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Collaboration (IPMSC) initiative, to be implemented initially in the Indian Ocean Region as well as through subject matter expert exchanges and tabletop exercises. They welcomed India’s operationalisation of the Indian Ocean Region programme of the Quad Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) through the Information Fusion Centre–Indian Ocean Region in Gurugram. Ministers agreed to work to develop a Common Operational Picture (COP) across the Indo-Pacific by drawing upon the existing IPMDA efforts,” the joint statement concluded.

–IANS

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