The second iteration of the two-plus-two ministerial dialogue took place between Australia and India, with defence minister Rajnath Singh and foreign minister S Jaishankar conversing with their respective counterparts, Penny Wong and Richard Marles, about how to improve Indo-Pacific cooperation in the face of Chinese assertiveness, strengthen defence and security partnerships, and increase trade and investment ties.
The two nations decided to further strengthen their overall bilateral defense-strategic ties, including cooperation in information exchange, maritime domain awareness, and specialised areas like artificial intelligence (AI), cyber, anti-submarine, and anti-drone warfare, after noticing China's expansionist muscle-flexing in the Indo-Pacific. Australian deputy PM and defence minister Richard Marles, in his bilateral meeting with Singh as well in the two-plus-two dialogue later, stressed that China was “the biggest security anxiety” for both India and his country, while also being their largest trading partner.
Sources said India also shared its deep concerns about China’s salami-slicing tactics on its land borders as well as expanding naval forays into the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), even as Beijing also strong-arms its smaller neighbours in the South China and East China Seas as well as the Taiwan Strait. Singh, on his part, said there is “consensus” that “a strong IndiaAustralia partnership augurs well for the overall peace, security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region”.
Rejecting historical inhibitions, India and Australia have been progressively building up their bilateral defence ties in order to emulate New Delhi's long-term rising trajectory with the other two Quad countries, the US and Japan.