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India’s Rajnath Singh in Canberra: Turning warm words into a shared maritime operating model

The Interpreter | English | AcademicThink | Oct. 10, 2025 | Shifting Geopolitical Alliances

India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is visiting Australia for a two-day trip during which three defence agreements are expected to be signed. These agreements will focus on intelligence sharing, maritime security, and a framework for joint military activities, aiming to establish sustained operational cooperation rather than symbolic gestures. The visit occurs amid increasing strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific, driven by China's expanding naval presence and emerging regional security arrangements like the Quad. Both India and Australia seek to move from symbolic alignment to practical coordination to maintain regional balance.

The two countries have laid the groundwork over the past five years, including the 2020 Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement and a recent air-to-air refuelling pact, alongside joint military exercises such as AUSTRAHIND. The goal is to develop a maritime-first operating model anchored in practical cooperation rather than containment. Key steps proposed include establishing a real-time white-shipping information link through India’s Information Fusion Centre - Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR), forward-publishing patrol schedules for improved predictability, and creating a transparent scorecard to monitor maritime domain awareness metrics.

Additionally, India and Australia aim to protect undersea critical infrastructure, such as submarine communication cables that carry over 95% of global data flows, by enhancing maritime domain awareness and cable security. This involves mapping chokepoints, sharing anomaly alerts, collaborating with industry on rapid repairs, and integrating local partners through Quad initiatives like the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA). Both nations intend to use platforms like the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) to extend these cooperative practices and foster regional stability without exclusivity.

The partnership offers benefits for both countries: Australia diversifies its security ties beyond the U.S. alliance, while India deepens cooperation without alignment pressures. Despite challenges such as differing regional focuses and technology transfer restrictions, progress in interoperability, exercise predictability, and transparency demonstrates manageable obstacles. Ultimately, success will be measured in enhanced maritime patrols, improved fisheries enforcement, and robust crisis response, helping shape an Indian Ocean strategic architecture based on openness, resilience, and regional agency.

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