India-Australia Defence Ministers' Dialogue Advances Bilateral Cooperation
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh and Australian Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for Defence Mr Richard Marles co-chaired the second edition of India-Australia Defence Ministers' Dialogue at Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi on June 01, 2026. The meeting built on progress since the inaugural dialogue held on October 09, 2025, with both ministers welcoming the significant advancement in bilateral relationship and enhanced consultation between the two nations.
The ministers discussed substantial progress in bilateral maritime security cooperation and efforts to finalize the Joint Maritime Security Collaboration Roadmap. They agreed to advance collaborative maritime domain awareness activities through maritime patrol aircraft and explore opportunities to enhance undersea domain awareness. Further cooperation between the Indian Coast Guard and Australia's Maritime Border Command was encouraged.
Both nations affirmed the importance of enhancing cooperation with regional partners to maintain a free, open, peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific. They emphasized freedom of navigation and overflight, and 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).
As co-leads of the Indian Ocean Rim Association Working Group on Maritime Safety and Security, India and Australia will jointly host a Search & Rescue and tabletop Exercise at Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, Chennai in June 2026 to strengthen maritime safety and security cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region. The two sides will explore arrangements to enhance procedural interoperability for exercises and operations, building on the 2020 Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement, and continue aircraft deployment from each other's territories to build operational familiarity.
A significant development announced was that India and Australia would begin developing a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the Provision of Defence Articles and Defence Services as the next step in deepening defence industrial collaboration. The strategic importance of defence industrial collaboration was underscored, with both sides welcoming Australia's first defence trade mission to India and Australia-India Defence Industry Roundtable in October 2025. Further exchanges through the Joint Working Group on Defence Industry, Research, and Materiel will be explored.
The ministers looked forward to exploring future defence science and technology research cooperation in new technology areas like sensor technologies. The Australian Deputy Prime Minister invited India to participate in the 2026 Australian Defence Science, Technology, and Research Summit.
Military cooperation expansion was noted with satisfaction, including the evolution of Army Exercise Austrahind to focus on amphibious combat and littoral manoeuvre. Australia welcomed India's inaugural participation in Operation Render Safe 2026, while India welcomed Australia's invitation for participation in submarine rescue exercise Black Carillon. India will enhance participation in Exercise Talisman Sabre 2027, with Australia participating in India's Exercise Milan in February 2026 and India participating in Australia's Exercise Kakadu in March 2026. Both countries will participate in each other's multinational air exercises in 2026, including operationalising the bilateral Implementing Arrangement on Air-to-Air Refuelling at Exercise Pitch Black.
Increased information sharing between operational headquarters was welcomed, with inaugural Joint Staff Talks scheduled later this year. The importance of secure bilateral communications at strategic, operational, and tactical levels was acknowledged, with efforts progressing through subject matter exchanges.
On training cooperation, arrangements will be finalized for deployment of an Indian visiting instructor at the Australian Defence College in 2028-2029 to strengthen professional military engagement, knowledge exchange, and strategic alignment. The growing strategic convergence among Australia, India, Japan and the United States in the Indo-Pacific was welcomed.
Both nations reaffirmed commitment to enhancing collaboration on maritime domain awareness to increase interoperability among partners, with strong support for the Quad Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Collaboration initiative to be implemented initially in the Indian Ocean Region through subject matter expert exchanges and tabletop exercises. India has operationalised the Indian Ocean Region programme of the Quad Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness through the Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region in Gurugram. Both sides agreed to work developing a Common Operational Picture across the Indo-Pacific by drawing upon existing Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness efforts.