“The next phase of India–Australia defence cooperation must translate intent into action, building tangible partnerships across the defence industrial ecosystem,” observed Maj Gen Abhay Dayal(Retd.), a former Additional Director General Technical in the Indian Army.
Moderating the discussion on “Advancing Australia–India Defence Industrial Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific” organised by CUTS International, Gen Dayal highlighted the urgency of moving from dialogue-driven engagement to implementation-focused collaboration.The discussion underscored a clear shift in India–Australia ties from strategic alignment to practical, industrial cooperation amid a rapidly evolving Indo-Pacific security landscape.
The webinar was a follow up to the India–Australia Defence Industry Business Roundtable held in Sydney in October 2025, Co-chaired at the ministerial level by India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Australia’s Assistant Minister for Defence Peter Khalil.
Captain Sarabjeet Singh Parmar (Retd), Distinguished Fellow, Council for Strategic and Defense Research, focused on the maritime dimension of cooperation, underlining its growing geoeconomic significance. “As disruptions reroute global trade flows, maritime domain awareness is emerging as a geoeconomic instrument, enabling India and Australia to secure sea lanes, manage risk, and safeguard critical supply chains in the Indian Ocean,” he noted. His remarks positioned maritime cooperation as central not only to security but also to economic resilience in the Indo-Pacific.
The discussion emphasised that the Indo-Pacific is undergoing structural transformation, with intensifying geopolitical competition, supply chain reconfiguration, and rapid technological change. In such a context, traditional buyer–seller defence relationships are increasingly inadequate. Instead, both countries are recognising the importance of co-development, co-production, and joint innovation, particularly in areas such as undersea systems, cyber defence, aerospace manufacturing, and critical technologies.
The shift to strategic imperative driving the partnership,was also highlighted by Chris Mills, Director, UNSW Defence Research Institute as he pointed out “India–Australia defence ties are shifting from ‘partners of opportunity’ to ‘partners of necessity,’ as a deteriorating Indo-Pacific security environment demands faster translation of policy into operational capability and deterrence outcomes,” His intervention underscored the need to accelerate cooperation, ensuring that policy alignment delivers tangible capability development.
Mr Ameet Shah, Founder and CEO, Jirra Enterprise Space drew attention to the structural and legal underpinnings of defence-industrial collaboration, particularly the role of intellectual property frameworks. “In a world of ‘lawfare’ and competitive tech ecosystems, India–Australia cooperation must build sovereign, resilient defence-industrial frameworks to compete and secure long-term geoeconomic advantage,” he argued. He emphasised that without robust cross-border IP protections, deep-tech collaboration and scalable industrial partnerships would remain constrained.
Across the discussion, panellists converged on several key themes: the importance of supply chain resilience, the complementarity between India’s manufacturing scale and Australia’s advanced research capabilities, and the need for institutional mechanisms to enable sustained collaboration.
The webinar concluded with a shared recognition that India and Australia are not merely partners of convenience, but strategic collaborators with a critical role in shaping regional stability. As both countries seek to diversify defence partnerships and reduce dependency risks, deeper industrial cooperation will be central to building sovereign capability and strengthening the broader Indo-Pacific security architecture.
CUTS International noted that this discussion forms part of its ongoing efforts to facilitate informed dialogue on Australia-India defence partnership, bringing together policymakers, industry leaders, and experts to identify actionable pathways for cooperation.
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Anjali Shekhawat, asw@cuts.org