India-Australia maritime cooperation: India and Australia have agreed to further deepen their defence ties, with both countries outlining a roadmap for strengthening military, maritime and industrial partnership during the second India - Australia Defence Ministers' Dialogue held in New Delhi.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh hosted Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles for the discussions.
Both the ministers advanced their PMs' long-term vision for partnership between the two countries to boost collective strength, contribute to both countries' security and make an important contribution to regional peace and security, according to a joint statement on the Second India - Australia Defence Ministers' Dialogue.
Focus on advancements in bilateral maritime security ties
Ministers of both the countries discussed advancements in bilateral maritime security cooperation and efforts to finalise the Joint Maritime Security Collaboration Roadmap.
They agreed to progress the collaborative maritime domain awareness activities by maritime patrol aircraft and explore opportunities to enhance undersea domain awareness.
The ministers also held talks to further deepen cooperation between the Indian Coast Guard and Australia's Maritime Border Command.
Enhancing cooperation for peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific
Both ministers affirmed the importance of enhancing cooperation with regional partners to help maintain a free, open, peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
"The 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 said.
Singh and Marles also underlined the strategic importance of India-Australia defence industrial collaboration and engagement and welcomed Canberra's first defence trade mission to India.
They agreed to explore further exchanges, including through the Joint Working Group on Defence Industry, Research, and Materiel. The two ministers welcomed the growing strategic convergence between Australia, India, 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.
Singh and Marles 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.
In a social media post, Singh described his meeting with Marles as "excellent". "Together we reviewed the full range of bilateral defence cooperation and discussed ways and means to enhance it further. The India-Australia Defence Partnership is poised to make steady progress in the years to come," he said.
(With PTI inputs)