India, Australia hold 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue to step up strategic ties

New Delhi: With China’s belligerence in the Indo-Pacific region being a shared ‘security anxiety’ for both nations, India and Australia are likely to ink pacts soon for air-to-air refuelling of military aircraft as well as for cooperation in hydrography and anti-submarine and anti-drone warfare.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday hosted their counterparts from Canberra – Richard Marles and Penny Wong – for the India-Australia 2+2 meeting in New Delhi.

The ministers took stock of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and Australia and the growing convergences, especially in the defence, security and maritime domains, according to a post by the external affairs minister on X. “They work for the larger benefit of the region.”

Jaishankar stated that he and Singh shared with Wong and Marles the perspectives on developments in the Indo-Pacific, West Asia, South Asia and Ukraine.

Marles, who is also a deputy prime minister in the Australian Government, referred to the common security threats posed to India and Australia by China’s belligerence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Earlier, Singh and Marles had a bilateral meeting and reaffirmed the commitment towards further strengthening the defence relations between India and Australia. They reviewed the increasing military-to-military cooperation between the two countries, including joint exercises, exchanges and institutional dialogue.

They underscored the importance of further enhancing cooperation in information exchange and maritime domain awareness between the two countries. The two sides are also in an advanced stage of discussion to conclude implementing arrangements on Hydrography Cooperation and cooperation for air-to-air refuelling, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of Defence in New Delhi.

Singh emphasised during his meeting with Marles that the forces of the two countries should also look at cooperating in niche training areas like Artificial Intelligence, anti-submarine and anti-drone warfare and cyber domain. The two ministers agreed that deepening cooperation in the defence industry and research would give a fillip to the already strong relationship.

The defence minister suggested that shipbuilding, ship repair and maintenance and aircraft Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) could be the potential areas of collaboration. The two ministers also discussed cooperation for joint research in underwater technologies. Collaboration between the defence start-ups of both the countries, including that for solving challenges jointly, was discussed by the ministers. They concurred that a strong India-Australia defence partnership will augur well not just for the mutual benefit of the two countries but also for the overall security of the Indo-Pacific, Singh later said in his opening remarks of the 2+2 dialogue.