Australia elevates India to the status of a 'top-tier defence and security partner'

Australia has elevated its description of India to the status of a “top-tier defence and security partner”, underscoring the growing strategic alignment between the two nations in pursuit of an open, stable, and rules-based Indo-Pacific order.

- R ANIL KUMAR

In remarks made by Australian Defence Spokesperson Office, Canberra formally welcomed India’s “critical leadership in the Indian Ocean”, recognising New Delhi’s expanding role as a stabilising influence across the maritime commons.

The spokesperson further emphasised that both nations, as holders of the largest Indian Ocean coastlines, view maritime security as central to their evolving defence cooperation.

The 2nd India-Australia Annual Summit, held on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rio de Janeiro on November 19, 2024, marked a significant advance in bilateral defence ties. During this high-level meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese agreed to formulate a Maritime Security Collaboration Roadmap, which will set out practical milestones for joint defence engagement through the coming decade.

Particular focus was placed on enhancing maritime domain awareness (MDA), expanding reciprocal defence information-sharing, and building the architecture of operational defence collaboration. This roadmap is intended to transform dialogue into deliverable objectives – ranging from strengthened institutional linkages and new mechanisms for secure communications, to expanded joint participation in naval exercises and coordinated presence operations across the Indian Ocean.