Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

It's very pleasing to see that our defence relationship with India continues to grow and to mature. The number of shared activities between the two of us has increased fourfold over the last six years alone. Last year, our bilateral cooperation reached new heights with the conduct of Exercise Ausindex, which is our most complex military exercise together to date. For the first time, our navies undertook antisubmarine warfare exercises together and our P-8 maritime surveillance and response aircraft flew coordinated missions in the Bay of Bengal.

The time is now right for both our nations to increase defence engagement and also cooperation. Our new comprehensive strategic partnership will enable these more complex and comprehensive joint activities. It will also deepen our cooperation so that we together can address the challenges we both face in our region.