Sydney: India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visit to Australia on ’s 9-10 October 2025 marked a milestone in Indo-Australian relations.
The visit delivered concrete, future-oriented defence and security cooperation outcomes that align closely with the Indo-Pacific strategies of both countries.
Amid the fifth anniversary of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,Rajnaths visit highlighted how Canberra and New Delhi view each other as security partners, and how operationalisation of strategic alignment across maritime security, industry, logistics, defence technology and intelligence sharing defines this partnership.
To maintain multipolarity and a stable balance of power, the Indo-Pacific requires credible coordinated measures. Since the 2020 Galwan standoff, India has consciously tilted towards a minilateral and multilateral soft balancing approach to China
For Australia, the 2024 National Defence Strategy (NDS) reorients defence planning around the concept of National Defence and a Strategy of Denial, prioritising an integrated, focused force capable of upholding a favourable regional strategic balance, free from coercion. Australia’s partnership with India, especially at sea and in the air, makes the bilateral defence relationship a viable alternative to maintaining a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific.
Rajnath Singh has highlighted the growing depth of the India-Australia relationship, describing it as a transformation from a long-standing friendship into a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership rooted in shared democratic values, mutual trust, and cooperation across multiple sectors.
Addressing the India-Australia Defence Industry Round Table in Sydney, co-chaired with Australia's Assistant Minister for Defence, Peter Khalil MP, Singh said the bilateral relationship has grown remarkably in recent years through sustained high-level engagements and expanding strategic alignment.
What began as a strong friendship evolved into a comprehensive partnership in 2020, strengthened by regular high-level engagements, including the India-Australia Summit in November 2024, the 2+2 Dialogue in October 2024, and reciprocal visits by both nations' Defence Ministers, Singh said.
He emphasised that the India-Australia relationship stands on three vital pillars -- robust government-to-government collaboration, vibrant people-to-people connections, and expanding business and industrial partnerships.
Highlighting the presence of over one million people of Indian origin in Australia, Singh said these human linkages, coupled with growing trade and technology cooperation, form the foundation of a dynamic bilateral relationship. However, he noted that defence industrial collaboration based on joint research, co-production, and innovation still holds significant untapped potential.
"India and Australia are natural partners, and this collaboration is both strategically significant and economically beneficial," Singh said.
India's strength in software, advanced manufacturing, and technology, combined with Australia's innovation and research ecosystem, makes this partnership an ideal platform for co-developing future defence solutions.
He described the Round Table as a "catalyst for unlocking unrealised potential" and noted that India's rapid economic and industrial transformation is creating new opportunities for international cooperation.
