India Australia Defence and Security Relations

Col B S Nagial (V)
At the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese, visited India from 8 to 11 Mar 2023. PM Albanese visited Ahmedabad, Mumbai and New Delhi on his first bilateral visit to India. He arrived in India on the day of Holi, and after that, both Prime Ministers spent some time on the cricket field. This celebration of colours, culture and cricket, in a way, seamlessly signifies the eagerness and essence of the friendship between the two nations.
Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles, visited India from 20-23 June 2022. The visit was the first high-level visit from Australia to New Delhi after Anthony Albanese became Prime Minister of Australia on 23 May 2022. This indicates that ‘defence and security’ are prioritised between the two democracies. On declaring his intended visit to India, Defence Minister Marles said, “I am committed to strengthening Australia’s ‘defence and security’ cooperation with India. Australia is ready to work closely with India to support an open, inclusive and resilient Indo-Pacific.”
India and Australia upgraded their bilateral relationship from a ‘strategic partnership’ in 2009 to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ in 2020. Over the past few years, several institutional mechanisms have been implemented to promote bilateral cooperation. Bilateral mechanisms include high-level visits, annual Meetings of Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue, 2+2 Defence and Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue, Joint Trade & Commerce Ministerial Commission, Defence Policy Talks, Australia-India Education Council, Defence Services Staff Talks, Energy Dialogue, JWGs on different issues etc.
The 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper emphasised that “India is in the front rank of Australia’s international partnerships with congruent security interests:” The Defence Strategic Update released by the Australian Department of Defence in July 2020 echoed that India is a substantial economic and security partner for Australia to reinforce common interests. India and Australia have been steadily developing their defence relations in recent years. The two countries have expanded their strategic partnership, focusing on maritime security, counter-terrorism, and regional stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
The defence relations between India and Australia go back to the era of the trenches of World War-I in Gallipoli and along the Western Front. In 2006 the Memorandum on Defence Cooperation and in 2009, a Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation underpinned this. After the agreement of a bilateral Framework for Security Cooperation in 2014, the defence relationship has been transformed into a range of forums for strategic dialogue and regular interactions between respective services through visits of senior officials, talks, and training exchanges.
The defence relationship now incorporates almost all the military’s primary functions, such as strategic dialogues, coordination, and information exchanges; military exercises involving ground, air and maritime forces; discussions and training; and defence scientific and technological cooperation. All of which is an echo of budding interoperability and strategic corporation.
* Establishing the IFC-IOR. The Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region in Gurugram is an initiative of India to increase maritime security and retort by swapping information associated with the ships in the Indian Ocean Region. As part of Australia’s intent to meet maritime challenges, it recently posted its first liaison officer at the IFC-IOR.
*Initiation of Strategic Dialogue. In June 2020, Australia and India elevated their Secretaries 2+2 dialogue (Defence and Foreign Affairs) to the Ministerial level. Now the ministers will meet once every two years to discuss the progress made under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
* The participation in Exercise Malabar. In Oct 2020, Australia participated in the MALABAR naval exercise and thus joined India, the U S and Japan. The exercise united four regional defence partners and democracies, signifying a collective resolve to support an open and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
*AUSINDEX. Rendezvous between the Royal Australian Navy and the Indian Navy has been innovative through the critical bilateral exercise called AUSINDEX. The 3rd edition of the biennial exercise witnessed Australia send its largest-ever defence deployment to India, together with four ships, Australian Army forces, and RAAF aircraft, comprising more than 1000 Australian Armed Forces personnel.
* The Pitch Black exercise. A significant beginning of defence rendezvous was traversed when, for the first time, the Indian Air Force joined Exercise Pitch Black in Darwin in 2018. Australia’s multifaceted exercise encompasses air forces from several Australian allies and partner countries. India’s partaking was further significant for staging the first mid-air refuelling of an IAF combat aircraft (Su-30MKI) by a RAAF aircraft (KC-30A), showing a notch of coordination not previously offered.
* Mutual Logistic Support Arrangement and Defence Science & Technology Implementing Arrangement. India and Australia clinched the Mutual Logistic Support Arrangement in 2020 in a virtual summit between two Prime Ministers The pact enables more scholarly operational cooperation, enabling increasingly complex military engagement and excellent collective receptiveness to regional benevolent disasters. The Defence Science and Technology Implementing Arrangement simplifies the interaction between our defence research organisations, significantly contributing to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
* The shared military platforms. Indian and Australian militaries have become increasingly interoperable through the increasing number of shared media, thereby growing opportunities for shared training. These include C-17 strategic transport aircraft, C-130 tactical transport aircraft, P-8 maritime reconnaissance aircraft, and Chinook heavy-lift helicopters.
The exchanges of military officials for training. Indian shape its relations with its defence forces through regular personnel and training exchanges, such as short specialist courses and longer-term positions. Every year, India and Australia send officers to attend each other’s premiere military educational institutions.
Both India and Australia have an interest in lessening their dependence on China. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a diplomatic spat provoked China, Australia’s largest trading partner, to restrict Australian products such as beef, barley, coal and wine, thus affecting the economy of Australia, during the recent interaction between two Prime Ministers, Narendra Modi ascribed defence and security as important pillars of relations between India and Australia. The political leaderships of both countries have shown their ‘political will’ to improve the defence and security ties. China’s factor has certainly galvanised their relationship. Three things dominated this meeting: Indo-Pacific, maritime security and defence cooperation.
Conclusion: India and Australia have been strengthening their defence and security relations in recent years, and there are several ways that they can continue to do so:
* Defence cooperation: India and Australia can continue to deepen their defence cooperation by engaging in joint military exercises and training programs. This will help both countries learn from each other and enhance their operational capabilities.
* Maritime security: Both countries are located in the Indo-Pacific region, so they can work together to ensure maritime security. This could include joint naval patrols, information sharing, and collaboration on anti-piracy efforts.
* Defence technology: India and Australia can collaborate further on developing and sharing defence technology, which will benefit both countries. This could include research and development in unmanned systems, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence.
* Counter-terrorism: India and Australia can work together to combat terrorism and extremism in the region. This could involve sharing intelligence, coordinating efforts to disrupt terrorist networks, and enhancing border security.
* Diplomatic engagement: India and Australia can continue to engage in high-level diplomatic discussions to enhance their defence and security relations. This could include regular meetings between defence ministers, military chiefs, and diplomats.
Overall, India and Australia have much potential for collaboration in the defence and security sphere. They can contribute to regional stability and security by continuing to deepen their relationship.