The two ministers welcomed the significant progress in bilateral ties and reviewed developments since the inaugural edition of the dialogue held on October 9, 2025.
Advancing the long-term vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the ministers discussed ways to enhance collective security, strengthen defence collaboration and contribute to regional peace and stability. They also welcomed progress toward renewing and strengthening the Joint Declaration on Defence and Security Cooperation.
A key focus of the dialogue was maritime security cooperation. The two sides reviewed efforts to finalise the Joint Maritime Security Collaboration Roadmap and agreed to advance maritime domain awareness initiatives through maritime patrol aircraft operations while exploring opportunities to enhance undersea domain awareness. They also encouraged closer cooperation between the Indian Coast Guard and Australia's Maritime Border Command.
Reaffirming their shared commitment to a free, open, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific, the ministers underscored the importance of freedom of navigation and overflight, unimpeded trade, and adherence to international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
As co-leads of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Working Group on Maritime Safety and Security, India and Australia announced plans to jointly host a Search and Rescue and Tabletop Exercise at the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Chennai later this month. The exercise aims to strengthen maritime safety and security cooperation across the Indian Ocean Region.
The two sides also agreed to explore arrangements to improve procedural interoperability during exercises and operations, building on the 2020 Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement. Both countries will continue aircraft deployments from each other's territories to enhance operational familiarity and coordination.
In a major step towards defence industrial cooperation, the ministers announced that India and Australia will begin developing a Memorandum of Understanding on the Provision of Defence Articles and Defence Services. They highlighted the strategic importance of defence industry collaboration and welcomed Australia's first Defence Trade Mission to India and the Australia-India Defence Industry Roundtable held in October 2025.
The two countries also agreed to expand cooperation through the Joint Working Group on Defence Industry, Research and Materiel.
Looking ahead, the ministers expressed interest in strengthening defence science and technology collaboration, particularly in emerging areas such as sensor technologies. Marles invited India to participate in the 2026 Australian Defence Science, Technology and Research Summit.
The ministers welcomed growing engagement between their armed forces and looked forward to India's enhanced participation in Exercise Talisman Sabre 2027. They also acknowledged Australia's participation in Exercise Milan 2026 and India's involvement in Exercise Kakadu 2026. Both sides expressed optimism about operationalising the bilateral Air-to-Air Refuelling Implementing Arrangement during Exercise Pitch Black.
The dialogue also highlighted expanding military cooperation into new domains. The ministers welcomed the evolution of Army Exercise Austrahind to include amphibious combat and littoral manoeuvre operations. Australia welcomed India's inaugural participation in Operation Render Safe 2026, while India appreciated Australia's invitation to participate in the submarine rescue exercise Black Carillon.
Both countries welcomed increased information sharing between operational headquarters and looked forward to holding the inaugural Joint Staff Talks later this year. They also stressed the importance of secure communications at strategic, operational and tactical levels.
On training and professional military education, the ministers encouraged officials to finalise arrangements for the deployment of an Indian visiting instructor at the Australian Defence College during 2028-29, aimed at enhancing military engagement, knowledge exchange and strategic alignment.
The ministers also welcomed the growing strategic convergence among Australia, India, Japan and the United States under the Quad framework. Reaffirming their commitment to maritime domain awareness, they expressed strong support for the Quad Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Collaboration initiative, which will initially focus on the Indian Ocean Region through expert exchanges and tabletop exercises.
The two sides further welcomed India's operationalisation of the Indian Ocean Region programme under the Quad Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness through the Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) in Gurugram.
They agreed to work towards developing a Common Operational Picture across the Indo-Pacific by leveraging existing maritime domain awareness initiatives under the Quad framework.