Diplomatist Magazine Diplomatist March 2019 | Page 12

SPECIAL REPORT The year 2014 was particularly crucial in the bilateral relationship, as the reciprocal Prime Ministerial level visits provided further impetus to the relationship. During the Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi’s 2014 visit to Australia a bilateral ‘Framework for Security Cooperation’ was agreed, reiterating the joint commitment of the two countries to regional security. The two countries decided to extend their defence cooperation to cover research, development and industry engagement. One of the major areas of defence cooperation between India-Australia has been the navy to navy cooperation given shared maritime security interests as Indian Ocean littorals. The Royal Australian Navy, one of the most sophisticated navies of the world and the Indian Navy which is the largest navy and the coast guard present in the Indian Ocean have converging strategic interests in the Indo- Pacifi c and need to develop a close partnership. The Indian Navy has successfully undertaken exercises with the navies of a number of friendly foreign countries including Australia. These exercises have helped in strengthening bilateral relationships, building professional ties and streamlining inter-operability. Navies of the two countries have participated in various multilateral and now regular bilateral exercises. In September 2007, the Royal Australian navy’s (RAN) frigate HMAS Adelaide and fl eet oiler HMAS Sirius, participated in a fi ve-day multilateral naval exercise i.e. ‘Malabar Exercise’, along with Japan, US, India and Singapore in the Bay of Bengal. Since 2003, Australia regularly sends ships to participate in ‘Milan’, biennial exercise hosted by the Indian Navy at Andaman Nicobar Islands. In March 2018 the latest (10th) iteration of Milan was concluded in the Andaman Sea, and HMAS Larrakia of Australia participated along with other foreign ships. The Indian ships participating in the exercise included INS Sahyadri, Jyoti, Kirch, Kulish, Saryu, Kesari, Baratang and Bangaram and INLCU L51. 2 Australian and Indian navies also conduct regular passing exercises called “PASSEXes”. Indian Navy also sends ship to participate in the multilateral Kakadu biennial exercises which is hosted in northern Australia. Last year ‘INS Shahyadri’ participated in India-Australia sign fi ve Agreements/MoUs during Prime Minister's visit to Australia. Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Abbott witness the signing ceremony (November 18, 2014). Australia and India also have '2+2' secretary-level dialogue. The inaugural dialogue to discuss key issues related to their strategic and defence ties was held in New Delhi in December 2017 and the second edition of the dialogue was hosted by Australia in Canberra in October 2018. 12 • Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 7 • Issue 3 • March 2019, Noida the Kakadu Exercise at the Port of Darwin, Australia. The most signifi cant recent development in the bilateral naval cooperation has been the beginning of bilateral maritime exercises, AUSINDEX. The Bilateral Maritime Exercise between India and Australia began in 2015, 'AUSINDEX-15'; conducted on the east coast of India, at Visakhapatnam. AUSINDEX 2017 was conducted off the coast of Freemantle, Australia in June 2017 in which three Indian Naval Ships, Shivalik, Kamorta and Jyoti participated. In addition, there have been goodwill visits from time to time between the two countries. During these visits, extensive interactions between the ship’ crews and Navy Personnel are held. One such visit took place in 2015, when two ships of the Indian Navy’s Eastern Fleet (INS Satpura and INS Kamorta) visited the port of Freemantle, Perth, Australia. Similarly, ‘HMAS Success’ visited Chennai in 2016 as part of a goodwill visit. Air Forces of the two countries – Indian Air Force (IAF) and Royal Australian Air Force – also take part in friendly interactions like the multinational biennial exercise ‘Pitch Black’ hosted by Australia in Darwin. The Indian Air Force had earlier participated in the exercise as observers and last year for the fi rst time IAF participated with its air assets. The IAF contingent consisted of 145 air-warriors including IAF Commandos team, Garuds, 04 X Su-30 MKI, 01 X C-130 and 01 X C-17 for logistic support for induction and de-induction. 3