India and Australia entered an agreement to conduct a joint Naval Exercise in 2015 to strengthen both countries' defence ties and strategic partnership.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith traveled to Canberra with India's'Defence Minister AK Anthony to discuss strategic partnership and other security issues, with highlights on maritime security and bilateral defence cooperation. The meeting was held during the two-day visit to Australia of India's defence minister.

The outcome of the discussion was made public through official statements made by both defence ministers in the culmination of Mr. Antony's visit in Australia.

In his statement, Mr. Anthony emphasised that both India and Australia agreed to continue their naval exchanges to develop trust and awareness between the two navies. They both looked forward to a joint bilateral maritime exercise in 2015. The partnership was a continued effort since the two countries agreed to participate in multilateral maritime exercise in Malabar in 2007 and in Milan last year.

Through the joint statement, both defence ministers reported the development brought by the strategic defence partnership that the countries had. The developments reported were in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Cooperation in 2006, the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation issued during the visit to India of former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in 2009, and most recently, in the joint statement issued during the visit of Australian Labor Party Prime Minister Julia Gillard in 2012.

According to the joint statement by Mr. Smith and Mr. Antony, both countries recognised that "maritime security and freedom of navigation in accordance with principles of international law were critical for the growth and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions."

"They agreed that interactions held between the defence establishments of both sides in a variety of fields and at various levels have been mutually beneficial. Both sides were pleased with the bilateral architecture established for pursuing defence cooperation and agreed that consultations had helped deepen mutual trust and understanding between the defence establishments."

In lieu of the aforementioned mutual understanding, both defence ministers promised to carry on discussions and cooperation on all concerns involving the Asia-pacific and Indian Oceans regions bilaterally as well as multilaterally. They promised to both follow all agreements made in the East Asia Summit, the Asean Regional Forum, the Asean Defence Minister's Meeting-Plus, Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) and the Indian Ocean Rim-Association for regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC).

Mr. Antony and Mr. Smith were both proud to say that India and Australia had been cooperating in the past for the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium. In fact, Australia will be hosting IONS in 2014 and will be organising the IONS Conclave of Chief in Perth in March 2014.

Furthermore, as part of the agreement, the minister agreed to carry on with activities as follows:

  • Maintain regular ministerial meetings
  • Promote exchanges between the defence establishments and both Armed Forces, including regularly holding the Defence Policy Dialogue, Armed Forces Staff talks and professional military exchanges.
  • Promote the sharing and exchange of professional knowledge and experiences through participation in training courses in each of other's military training institutions.