AUSTRALIA AND INDIA SIGN DEFENCE ARRANGEMENTS

As part of the Australia-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier today, two landmark Defence Arrangements between Australia and India have been established.

The Australia-India Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement and the Defence Science and Technology Implementing Arrangement provide a framework to deepen defence cooperation between the two countries.

Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds CSC said India is a significant security partner for Australia.

“We have a strong shared interest in working together to support a stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Minister Reynolds said.

The Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement will enhance military interoperability, enabling increasingly complex military engagement, and greater combined responsiveness to regional humanitarian disasters.

This arrangement paves the way for greater cross-service military activity, building on the success of our most complex exercise to date, AUSINDEX 2019, which focused on anti-submarine warfare.

The Science and Technology Implementing Arrangement will facilitate improved collaboration between our defence science and technology research organisations, both of whom have made important contributions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We now have a solid framework for Indian and Australian defence organisations to enhance our research collaboration and develop defence capabilities that help maintain our technological edge in this era of rapid change and increasing threats,” Minister Reynolds said.

“These arrangements reflect India and Australia’s strong commitment to practical global cooperation. We look forward to being able to recommence engagement in person as soon as circumstances permit.”