Australia and India have taken significant steps to strengthen their defence partnership, with both nations committing to an expanded framework of cooperation across land, air, maritime, and industrial domains.
The announcements came after the inaugural Australia–India Defence Ministers’ dialogue, co-chaired by Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles and India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Canberra on Thursday (October 9, 2025).
Mr. Singh is on a two-day official visit to Australia. The meeting marked five years of the India-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership.
The Defence Ministry in a statement stated that in the meeting, Mr. Singh highlighted the rapid growth of defence engagement in recent years. The discussions culminated in the signing of three key agreements — an agreement on information sharing, an MoU on submarine search and rescue cooperation, and terms of reference for establishing joint staff talks.
Reiterating India’s firm stance on terrorism, he emphasised that “terror and talks cannot go together, terror and trade cannot go together, and water and blood cannot flow together.” He called on the international community to unite against all forms of terrorism.
