Defence minister Rajnath Singh and Australian deputy prime minister and minister for defence Richard Marles co-chaired the second edition of India-Australia Defence Ministers’ Dialogue at Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi on 1 June 2026. The two ministers welcomed the significant progress in the bilateral relationship, and reflected on the enhanced consultation and cooperation since the inaugural edition of the dialogue on 9 October 2025.

The ministers advanced their prime ministers’ long-term vision 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. They welcomed the progress towards realising their prime ministers’ commitment to renew and strengthen the joint declaration on defence and security cooperation.

The two sides discussed advancements in bilateral maritime security cooperation and efforts to finalise the Joint Maritime Security Collaboration Roadmap. They agreed to progress the collaborative maritime domain awareness activities by maritime patrol aircraft and explore opportunities to enhance undersea domain awareness. They also encouraged further cooperation between the Indian Coast Guard and Australia’s Maritime Border Command.

The ministers affirmed the importance of enhancing cooperation with regional partners to help maintain a free, open, peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific. They 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 United Nations convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

India and Australia, as co-leads of the Indian Ocean Rim Association Working Group on Maritime Safety and Security, jointly hosted a Search & Rescue and tabletop Exercise at Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, Chennai in June 2026 to strengthen maritime safety and security cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The two sides undertook to explore arrangements to enhance procedural interoperability for exercises and operations, building on the 2020 Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement. They also agreed to continue aircraft deployment from each other’s territories to build operational familiarity.

The ministers announced that India and Australia would begin developing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding the Provision of Defence Articles and Defence Services as the next step in deepening defence industrial collaboration. They underscored the strategic importance of defence industrial collaboration and engagement, while welcoming Australia’s first defence trade mission to India and Australia-India Defence Industry Roundtable, both in October 2025, as a reflection of growth in the bilateral defence industry relationship. The two sides agreed to explore further exchanges including through the Joint Working Group on Defence Industry, Research, and Materiel.

Both the ministers looked forward to exploring future defence science and technology research cooperation in new technology areas like sensor technologies. The Australian deputy prime minister invited India to participate in the 2026 Australian Defence Science, Technology, and Research Summit.

The ministers appreciated the growing engagement between their defence forces, and looked forward to India’s enhanced participation in Exercise Talisman Sabre 2027. They welcomed Australia’s participation in India’s Exercise Milan in February 2026, and India’s participation in Australia’s Exercise Kakadu in March 2026. They looked forward to their countries’ participation in each other’s multinational air exercises in 2026, including operationalising the bilateral Implementing Arrangement on Air-to-Air Refuelling at Exercise Pitch Black.

India and Australia reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing collaboration on maritime domain awareness to increase interoperability among the partners.

The two sides welcomed India’s operationalisation of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) programme of the Quad Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness through the Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region in Gurugram. They agreed to work to develop a Common Operational Picture across the Indo-Pacific by drawing upon the existing Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness efforts.