India and Australia agreed to intensify and diversify defence industry collaboration during a meeting between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles on Wednesday.
During the meeting, both ministers strongly condemned the terror attack in Pahalgam and expressed condolences to the families of the victims. The two sides agreed to work together to combat terrorism in all its forms.
Singh highlighted India’s right to respond in self-defence against cross-border terrorism and described the military action against Pakistan as measured, non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible.
Singh thanked Australia for its unequivocal support to India’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
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The two leaders decided to further the defence science and technology collaboration projects when they meet in Australia later this year for the third India-Australia 2+2 ministerial meeting. They also reviewed the progress made since the last 2+2 ministerial dialogue held in 2023.
The meeting offered an opportunity for both sides to review the status of bilateral engagements in the context of emerging regional and global scenarios, the defence ministry said in a release.
"The discussions covered a wide range of issues such as defence strategic cooperation and security, including industry collaboration, cyber and new emerging technologies, counter-terrorism, hydrography and maritime security. The two sides also exchanged views on regional and global security issues of mutual interest," the release read.
Both sides called for continued strengthening of bilateral defence cooperation and their commitment for achieving their shared objective of peace, prosperity, stability and progress in the Indo-Pacific region.