Australia, India to boost submarine rescue, defence industry cooperation

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia and India will strengthen maritime security and defence industrial cooperation, signing an agreement on mutual submarine rescue during the first annual defence ministers dialogue in Canberra, a joint statement said.

Indian Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh made the first visit by an Indian defence minister to Australia in more than a decade on Thursday.

A statement released by Australia after his meeting with Defence Minister Richard Marles said they agreed to pursue collaboration in defence technology, and India had offered to maintain and repair Royal Australian Navy ships in Indian shipyards during deployment in the Indian Ocean.

In opening remarks, Marles said the two defence forces would increase information sharing.

"All of that is taking our high-level strategic alignment and taking this to a much deeper operational level," he said, according to a transcript.

The meeting also noted progress in defence cooperation between Australia, India, Japan and the United States.

Australia and India are members of the Quad group, which also includes the United States and Japan, seen as a counterweight to China in the Indo-Pacific.

Australia will acquire nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS defence partnership with Britain and the United States, to be based in Western Australia on the northeastern edge of the Indian Ocean.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney. Editing by Mark Potter)

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