India, Australia take steps to deepen defence partnership

India and Australia on Wednesday decided to deepen their bilateral defence partnership by taking a slew of fresh initiatives, including setting up of a joint working group on defence research and material cooperation and focusing on maritime security ties in the Indian Ocean region. It was also decided that India will take part in the first ever air exercise with Australia.

This is in addition to the first-ever bilateral naval <g data-gr-id="20">excercise</g> that is scheduled to be held later this month. The decisions came following the delegation-level talks between visiting Australian defence Minister Kevin Andrews and his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar.

“Given both nations’ interest in the Indian Ocean and its vital importance to regional and global trade, the ministers acknowledged the importance of freedom of maritime navigation and agreed that maritime security should remain a key component of the bilateral defence relationship,” a joint statement released here this evening said.

The Ministers affirmed their desire to continue to deepen the bilateral defence ties based on shared strategic interests and to implement the action plan outlined in the Framework for security cooperation agreed to by the Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Tony Abbott on 18 November 2014, 

it said. 

The two ministers decided to work for closer Air Force engagement, including Indian attendance at the Royal Australian Air Force exercise. They also decided to create <g data-gr-id="22">closer</g> Counter-Improvised Explosive Device (CIED) relationship, commencing with a regular subject matter expert exchange, the joint statement said.