NEW DELHI: India and Australia on Monday underscored the importance of “freedom of navigation, overflight and unimpeded maritime trade” amid disruptions in energy supply chains following the West Asia crisis, and also advocated for a “free, open, peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific” at a time China is increasing its assertiveness in the region.During the second India-Australia Defence Ministers’ Dialogue held here, defence minister Rajnath Singh and Australian deputy PM and defence minister Richard Marles “discussed advancements in bilateral maritime security cooperation and efforts to finalise the joint maritime security collaboration roadmap, and agreed to progress the collaborative maritime domain awareness activities by maritime patrol aircraft and explore opportunities to enhance undersea domain awareness,” a joint statement read.

Welcoming the “significant progress in bilateral relationship”, the ministers advanced the long-term vision of PM Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese for collaboration between the two countries to enhance collective strength, contribute to both countries’ security, and make an important contribution to regional peace and security.“Ministers encouraged further cooperation between the Indian Coast Guard and Australia’s Maritime Border Command and reaffirmed the importance of enhancing cooperation with regional partners to help maintain a free, open, peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” the statement read.India and Australia also underscored the importance of freedom of navigation and overflight, and their strong support for unimpeded trade in the region and other lawful uses of the sea consistent with international law, particularly the 1982 UNCLOS.As co-leads of the IORA Working Group on Maritime Safety and Security (WGMSS), both sides look forward to jointly hosting a search and rescue (SAR) and tabletop exercise at maritime rescue coordination centre (MRCC), Chennai, in June to strengthen maritime safety and security cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).Later, Rajnath on X stated, “…Together we reviewed the full range of bilateral defence cooperation and discussed ways and means to enhance it further. The India-Australia Defence Partnership is poised to make steady progress in the years to come.”The ministers undertook to explore arrangements to enhance procedural interoperability for exercises and operations, building on the 2020 Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement. They announced Australia and India would begin developing an MoU regarding the provision of defence articles and defence services as the next step in deepening defence industrial collaboration.After the meeting, Richard Marles said on X, “…Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh and I spoke about turning our deep strategic trust into practical defence cooperation. Peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific rely on us working closely with our partners.”Both also appreciated the growing engagement between their armies, navies and air forces and looked forward to India’s enhanced participation in Exercise Talisman Sabre 2027 and the inaugural Joint Staff Talks later this year.