India and Australia have agreed to expand defence cooperation across maritime security, military interoperability, defence industry collaboration and emerging technologies following the second India–Australia Defence Ministers’ Dialogue held in India.
India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh hosted Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, with both leaders reviewing progress made since the inaugural Defence Ministers’ Dialogue in October 2025 and outlining an ambitious agenda for deeper strategic cooperation.
The ministers reaffirmed their commitment to advancing the vision of Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Anthony Albanese to strengthen bilateral security cooperation and contribute to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. They also welcomed progress toward renewing and strengthening the Joint Declaration on Defence and Security Cooperation.
A major focus of the talks was maritime security. Both countries discussed efforts to finalise a Joint Maritime Security Collaboration Roadmap and agreed to advance maritime domain awareness activities involving maritime patrol aircraft. They also committed to exploring opportunities to enhance undersea domain awareness and encouraged greater cooperation between the Indian Coast Guard and Australia’s Maritime Border Command.
Reiterating their support for a free, open, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific, the ministers underscored the importance of freedom of navigation and overflight, as well as unimpeded trade and lawful uses of the sea in accordance with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
As co-leads of the Indian Ocean Rim Association Working Group on Maritime Safety and Security, India and Australia will jointly host a Search and Rescue and tabletop exercise at the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Chennai in June 2026 to strengthen regional maritime cooperation.
During his visit, Minister Marles also met with India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar. The leaders discussed the growing strategic partnership between India and Australia, regional security developments, and opportunities to further deepen cooperation across defence, economic and diplomatic domains.
The two sides also agreed to explore new arrangements aimed at improving procedural interoperability during exercises and operations, building on the 2020 Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement. Both countries will continue deploying aircraft from each other’s territories to increase operational familiarity.
In a significant step for defence industry cooperation, Ministers Singh and Marles announced that India and Australia will begin developing a Memorandum of Understanding on the Provision of Defence Articles and Defence Services. The proposed agreement is expected to support deeper defence industrial collaboration between the two countries.
The ministers welcomed Australia’s first defence trade mission to India and the Australia-India Defence Industry Roundtable held in October 2025, describing them as important milestones in strengthening bilateral defence industry ties. Further engagement will be pursued through the Joint Working Group on Defence Industry, Research and Materiel.
Emerging technologies and defence innovation also featured prominently in the discussions. Both sides expressed interest in expanding defence science and technology cooperation, including in sensor technologies. Australia invited India to participate in the 2026 Australian Defence Science, Technology and Research Summit.
The ministers welcomed growing engagement among the two nations’ armed forces and looked forward to increased participation in major military exercises. India is expected to enhance its role in Exercise Talisman Sabre 2027, while Australia participated in Exercise Milan earlier this year and India joined Exercise Kakadu in March 2026. Both countries are also preparing to operationalise a bilateral air-to-air refuelling arrangement during Exercise Pitch Black.
Military cooperation is also expanding into new domains. The annual Army exercise Austrahind has evolved to include amphibious combat and littoral manoeuvre operations. Australia welcomed India’s participation in Operation Render Safe 2026, while India welcomed Australia’s invitation to participate in submarine rescue exercise Black Carillon.
The two sides also welcomed increased information sharing between operational headquarters and looked forward to holding their inaugural Joint Staff Talks later this year. Discussions also focused on strengthening secure communications at strategic, operational and tactical levels.
In the area of professional military education, officials were encouraged to finalise arrangements for the deployment of an Indian visiting instructor to the Australian Defence College during 2028–29.
The ministers further highlighted the growing strategic convergence among India, Australia, Japan and the United States through the Quad partnership. They reaffirmed support for enhanced maritime domain awareness initiatives, including the Quad Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Collaboration and the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness.
India’s operationalisation of the Indian Ocean Region component of the Quad’s maritime awareness initiative through the Information Fusion Centre–Indian Ocean Region in Gurugram was welcomed by both sides. The ministers also agreed to work towards developing a Common Operational Picture across the Indo-Pacific by building on existing maritime domain awareness efforts.
The dialogue underscored the rapidly expanding defence partnership between India and Australia, reflecting growing strategic alignment and shared interests in maintaining security, stability and rules-based order across the Indo-Pacific.
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