As part of the ministerial discussion, Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles, as well as Foreign Minister Penny Wong, were met by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

In order to address “exceptional challenges” in the Indo-Pacific region and throughout the world, Australia and India resolved on Monday to deepen their strategic alliance, with a particular emphasis on defence cooperation.

The two countries also emphasised the need of further boosting cooperation in information sharing and marine domain awareness at the second India and Australia 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue.

In his introductory remarks, Jaishankar stated that despite growing global uncertainties, the bilateral relationship between Australia and India has expanded quickly over the past year.

“We are seeing sharper polarisation, deeper stresses and today, while it is important to ensure that the routine is there for the region to feel safer. So, we have to build and act for stability on a daily basis,” he stated.

China is the source of “biggest security anxiety” for both Australia and India:  Marles

China is the largest trading partner and the source of “biggest security anxiety” for both Australia and India, according to Marles, who emphasised the need of collaboration between the two nations.

Marles emphasised the need of collaboration on marine domain awareness, saying, “We share an ocean and in that sense, we are neighbours, and there has never been a more important time for our two countries to be working together.”

Jaishankar stated that “exceptional challenges” are faced by Australia and India, and that both nations must prepare for these anomalies.

“These could be man-made exceptions, these could be HADR (humanitarian assistance and disaster relief) situations where again it is important that we have a culture of cooperation to withstand,” he stated.

According to Rajnath Singh, the Indo-Pacific region’s general peace, security, and prosperity would all benefit from the India-Australian collaboration in addition to the two nations’ own interests.

He emphasised that one of the key tenets of the strategic cooperation between Australia and India is defence in particular.

“The commitment towards further strengthening our bilateral relationship has been affirmed at the highest levels every time our prime ministers met, either for summit-level talks or at multilateral forums such at the Quad and G-20,” Singh stated.

A robust bilateral defence alliance will “augur well” not just for the two nations but also for the wider security of the Indo-Pacific region, Singh stated earlier during a bilateral meeting with Marles.

According to a statement released by the Indian Ministry of military, the two ministers decided that strengthening collaboration in the military sector and research will “give a fillip to the already strong relationship”.

Singh said that possible fields of cooperation may include shipbuilding, ship repair and maintenance, and aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO).

According to the statement, the leaders reiterated their commitment to enhancing their defence cooperation.

Singh commended Marles for the first-ever, flawless execution of Australia’s multinational exercise “Malabar” in August.

“Both ministers underscored the importance of further enhancing cooperation in information exchange and maritime domain awareness between the two countries,” noted the statement.

According to the ministry, “both the ministers reaffirmed their commitment towards further strengthening the bilateral defence relations” .

It indicated that they were pleased with the growing military-to-military collaboration, which included cooperative drills, exchanges, and institutional communication, between the two nations.

According to authorities, talks to finalise agreements on the implementation of hydrography cooperation and cooperation for air-to-air refuelling are also at an advanced level.

Singh underlined that “niche training areas like artificial intelligence, anti-submarine and anti-drone warfare and cyber domain” should be areas of cooperation for the armed services of the two nations.

The two ministers also spoke about working together to do collaborative research on undersea technology. The ministers talked on cooperation between the military startups in both nations, including problem-solving efforts. They agreed that a strong defence alliance between Australia and India will be beneficial not just to both nations but also to the Indo-Pacific region’s general security,” the statement concluded.

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