The deepening relationship between the Maldives and Australia signals Canberra’s growing strategic interest in the Northeast Indian Ocean. For much of the past two decades, Australian strategic attention has focused heavily on the Pacific, while security in the Indian Ocean was pursued through partnerships with larger regional powers, particularly India. But as strategic competition grows across the region, Australia is shifting how it engages with smaller — but significant — regional actors.
Australia’s 2026 National Defence Strategy highlights the importance of the Northeast Indian Ocean to the country’s sea lines of communication and emphasises Canberra’s strategic interest in the region. It specifically identifies the Maldives, alongside Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, as countries with which the Department of Defence will strengthen engagement on regional security and collective maritime domain awareness. This represents a notable shift from the 2024 Strategy, in which the Maldives was mentioned primarily in the context of existing defence partnerships.
Despite its small size, the Maldives’ location near one of the world’s busiest maritime routes and its vast exclusive economic zone give the country an important role in the governance and security of the Indian Ocean. In 2025, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles noted that around 50 per cent of Australia’s seaborne trade travels just north of the Maldives, underscoring the importance of Maldivian maritime surveillance to Australia’s economic security.
