Onlykashmir.in News Desk
India and Australia on Thursday signed a new Joint Declaration on Defence and Security Cooperation, alongside a dedicated Maritime Security Collaboration Roadmap, in a move both sides described as central to securing peace and stability across the Indo-Pacific region. The agreements were finalised following delegation level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese during the third Australia-India Annual Leaders’ Summit, held in Melbourne.
In a joint press statement following the talks, Prime Minister Modi said the Indo-Pacific was not merely a meeting point of two oceans but a reflection of the shared aspirations of like minded democracies such as India and Australia. Briefing the media afterward, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the discussions between the two leaders reflected a growing strategic partnership and a close working understanding that has developed between New Delhi and Canberra in recent years.
Beyond the defence and security track, both sides also finalised the administrative arrangement for the long term supply of Australian uranium to India, a step that formalises years of negotiation on civil nuclear cooperation between the two countries. On the economic front, a high powered India-Australia CEOs Forum saw both leaders agree to fast track negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, building on the 55 percent surge in two way trade delivered by the 2022 Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement.
The summit also saw movement on emerging areas of cooperation, with the operationalisation of the Australia-India Partnership for Cyber, Critical Technologies and Supply Chains, alongside extended Australian support for India’s Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme, underscoring the widening scope of the bilateral relationship beyond traditional defence and trade concerns.
Addressing evolving regional dynamics, the two maritime powers adopted the Joint Declaration on Defence and Security Cooperation alongside the unified Maritime Security Collaboration Roadmap, both aimed at ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific amid shifting strategic currents in the region. The two leaders reaffirmed their shared commitment to the Quad grouping as a vital mechanism for counterterrorism cooperation and disaster relief, while Modi also reiterated India’s firm stance on the need for sustained peace in West Asia, a region where tensions have remained elevated in recent months.
