Australia and India signed a security deal in October 2025 that enhances their commitment to preserve regional peace.
“Australia and India are top-tier security partners and our defense cooperation delivers practical effects to uphold Indo-Pacific stability,” Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles’ office stated.
The agreement includes submarine cooperation and establishing a forum for military talks.
“The bilateral arrangements … reflect the significant growth in our defense partnership and our shared ambition for its future,” Marles said before signing the agreement with Rajnath Singh, who became the first Indian defense minister to visit Australia since 2013.
Closer defense relations were highlighted in July 2025 with India’s inaugural participation in the biennial Talisman Sabre exercise in Australia. Talisman Sabre began in 2005 as joint drills between Australia and the United States. More than 40,000 military personnel from 19 nations participated in the recent exercise.
Australia and India are members of the Quadrilateral partnership, or Quad, with Japan and the U.S. The four countries’ foreign affairs chiefs met in Washington, D.C., in July 2025 and agreed to expand maritime security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. Quad naval forces conduct the annual Malabar maritime exercise.
Singh’s visit to Australia was “highly significant” both symbolically and practically, said Raji Rajagopalan, a senior fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute think tank.
Countering China’s aggressive moves and destabilizing gray-zone tactics across the region is a priority for Australia and India, analysts say.
“For both Canberra and New Delhi, moving from symbolic alignment to operational coordination is not just about their bilateral relationship — it is about ensuring the regional balance does not tip by default,” the Australia-based Lowy Institute think tank wrote about Singh’s visit.
Australia also is strengthening security ties with its South Pacific neighbors, including a recent defense treaty with Papua New Guinea that will integrate the nations’ defense forces. It is Australia’s only alliance-level security pact other than the 1951 ANZUS Treaty with New Zealand and the U.S.
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