India and Australia upgraded their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2020, over a video call, during the pandemic. Six years on, Prime Minister Modi travelled to Melbourne in person, for the third in-person Annual Summit between the two countries.
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International Relations · IntlRel0051
India-Australia Relations
From a wartime-era Strategic Partnership to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership
2009
India and Australia sign their first Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation.
4 Jun 2020
A Virtual Summit elevates ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP).
Dec 2022
The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) enters into force.
8-10 Jul 2026
PM Modi visits Melbourne for the 3rd India-Australia Annual Summit.
“A living bridge”
PM Modi’s own description of the roughly one million people of Indian origin now living in Australia, at a diaspora address in Melbourne, during the 2026 visit.
Must Know
- India and Australia first established a Strategic Partnership in 2009. A Virtual Summit elevated it to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP), on 4 June 2020.
- The two countries signed the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) on 2 April 2022. It entered into force on 29 December 2022.
- PM Modi visited Australia from 8 to 10 July 2026, for the Third India-Australia Annual Summit, held in Melbourne.
- The Annual Summit mechanism began with the 1st Summit, in New Delhi on 10 March 2023. The 2nd Summit followed on the sidelines of the G20, in Rio de Janeiro, on 19 November 2024.
- At the 3rd Summit, the two countries announced a new Joint Declaration on Defence and Security Cooperation (JDDSC), renewing their original 2009 security declaration.
- They also finalised the Administrative Arrangement under their 2014 Civil Nuclear Agreement. This will enable long-term Australian uranium exports to India.
- The two sides agreed to the Australia-India Partnership for Cyber, Critical Technologies, and Supply Chains (PACTS), building on a 2020 framework arrangement.
- India’s community in Australia is now Australia’s largest overseas-born group, at roughly one million people.
Good to Know
- Defence cooperation now includes an Annual Defence Ministers’ Dialogue, and a Maritime Security Collaboration Roadmap (MSCR).
- The Indian Coast Guard and Australia’s Maritime Border Command signed an MoU. It covers maritime law enforcement and domain awareness.
- India will place a military instructor at the Australian Defence College, for the 2028-29 term.
- Negotiations continue on an ambitious Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), meant to build on ECTA.
- The 3rd Summit convened a CEOs Forum. Prime Minister Modi also addressed the Indian diaspora, at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, with PM Albanese joining him.
- The two countries adopted a Joint Statement on Energy Security, reaffirming their commitment amid geopolitical tensions.
- Australia returned 3 Indian antiquities taken from Tamil Nadu. These included an 11th-12th century Nandi sculpture, and a 12th-century Skanda (Karttikeya) sculpture.
- A Rooftop Solar Training Academy, at Pandit Deendayal Energy University, was operationalised. It aims to train 2,000 women and youth as solar technicians.
- India and Australia agreed to mutually support each other’s UN Security Council candidatures. India for the non-permanent 2028-29 term, Australia for 2029-30; Australia also backs India’s bid for a permanent seat.
Test Yourself
Great to Know
- Australia is a fellow Quad partner, alongside India, Japan, and the United States. Cooperation with Australia bilaterally reinforces that wider grouping, rather than sitting apart from it.
- India and Australia are both hosting major sporting events soon. Brisbane hosts the 2032 Olympics, and Ahmedabad hosts the 2030 Commonwealth Games. The two countries adopted a new Sports Collaboration Roadmap at the 3rd Summit.
- Australia is supporting India’s Gaganyaan Mission human spaceflight programme, including a temporary space-tracking terminal on the Cocos Keeling Islands.
- PM Modi called the roughly one million Indian-origin people in Australia a “living bridge” between the two nations, at his 2026 diaspora address in Melbourne.
- For how this fits into India’s wider trade network, see IntlRel0056 — India’s Free Trade Agreements.
- Flinders University and Victoria University are both setting up campuses in India, in Bengaluru and Gurugram respectively. This is part of a broader wave of foreign university campuses opening under India’s newer education reforms.
Current Affairs
- From 20 July to 7 August 2026, India is taking part in Exercise Pitch Black 2026. It’s a biennial multinational air combat exercise, hosted by Australia. India’s contingent includes 4 Rafale fighter jets, 2 C-17 transport aircraft, and over 120 Air Warriors. (Source: Akashvani News)
- The exercise, held at RAAF bases in Darwin, Tindal, and Amberley, is one of the largest in its 45-year history. It also includes forces from over a dozen other nations, including the US, Japan, France, and Germany. (Source: Australian Department of Defence)
- At the 3rd Annual Summit, India and Australia finalised the Administrative Arrangement under their 2014 Civil Nuclear Agreement. This enables Australian uranium exports to India for peaceful use, under IAEA safeguards. (Source: PIB, List of Outcomes, 9 Jul 2026)
- Australia holds over a third of the world’s uranium reserves, the largest share globally. This assured supply strengthens India’s Nuclear Energy Mission, which targets 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047. It also reinforces the SHANTI Act (December 2025), which lets private companies build and operate nuclear plants. Australia separately reaffirmed its support for India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). (Source: PIB Backgrounder, 14 Jul 2026)
- The two countries adopted PACTS, the Australia-India Partnership for Cyber, Critical Technologies, and Supply Chains. It strengthens cooperation on cyber security, critical tech, and resilient supply chains. (Source: PIB, Joint Declaration on Defence and Security Cooperation, 9 Jul 2026)
- They announced the new Joint Declaration on Defence and Security Cooperation (JDDSC). A companion Maritime Security Collaboration Roadmap followed, plus an MoU between the Indian Coast Guard and Australia’s Maritime Border Command. (Source: PIB, List of Outcomes, 9 Jul 2026)
- Australia returned 3 Indian antiquities to India, including an 11th-12th century Nandi sculpture from Tamil Nadu. (Source: PIB, List of Outcomes, 9 Jul 2026)
- Both countries condemned terrorism, specifically citing the Pahalgam and Bondi Beach attacks. They reaffirmed mutual support for each other’s UN Security Council candidatures. (Source: PIB, 3rd India-Australia Annual Summit Joint Statement, 9 Jul 2026)
- The two leaders also released the India-Australia Roadmap for Sports Collaboration, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It covers sports training, sports science, and sports industry investment. The roadmap also proposes a joint India-Australia Youth Sports Festival. (Source: PIB, 9 Jul 2026)
- It builds on a 2023 sports cooperation MoU, between the two countries. The roadmap looks ahead to the 2030 Commonwealth Games in Ahmedabad, and the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. (Source: PIB)
- CSIR and IP Australia also signed a TKDL Access Agreement, at the Summit. It lets IP Australia use India’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, during patent examination. This should help block patents on India’s already-documented traditional knowledge. (Source: PIB)
- TKDL was set up in 2001, by CSIR and the Ministry of AYUSH. It holds over 5.2 lakh formulations, across Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa, and Yoga. It has already helped get over 375 wrongly-granted patents revoked, rejected, or withdrawn worldwide. (Source: PIB) See SciTech0085 — CSIR for the story of the body behind TKDL.
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