Canberra: India and Australia today established a
framework for bilateral security cooperation as they stepped up their
defence collaboration for advancing regional peace and combating
terrorism among other challenges. Prime Minister Narendra Modi
and his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott held talks and agreed to
establish a Framework for Security Cooperation to reflect the deepening
and expanding security and defence engagement between the two countries.
They
established the framework to intensify cooperation and consultation
between Australia and India in areas of mutual interest. "I greatly
welcome the New Framework for Security Cooperation. Security and defence
are important and growing areas of the new India-Australia partnership
-- for advancing regional peace and stability, and combating terrorism
and trans-national crimes," Modi said in the statement to the media at a
joint press conference with Abbott.
Modi, while addressing the
Parliament later, also called for collaboration in the field of maritime
security. "We should collaborate more on maintaining maritime security.
We should work together on the seas and collaborate in international
forums. And, we should work for a universal respect for international
law and global norms," he said reiterating his call for collaboration on
maritime security made at the East Asia and ASEAN summits in Myanmar
last week.
Modi and Abbott decided that the framework will be implemented in
accordance with an action plan. The action plan states that there will
be an annual summit and foreign policy exchanges and coordination. The
plan includes annual meeting of Prime Ministers, including on the
margins of multilateral meetings, foreign Ministers' framework dialogue,
senior officials' talks led by India's Secretary (East) in the Ministry
of External Affairs and the Secretary of Australia's Department of
Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The action plan also talks about East
Asia talks between External Affairs senior officials, defence policy
planning and coordination. The framework agreed on will be implemented
according to the action plan which calls for regular defence ministers'
meeting, annual defence policy talks, service to service engagement
including regular high-level visits, annual staff talks, joint training
and regular exercises and regular bilateral maritime exercises.
It
also calls for exploring defence research and development cooperation,
including through visits by Australian and Indian defence material
delegations and efforts to foster joint industry links. The action plan
also includes an annual Joint Working Group on counter-terrorism and
other transnational crimes, cooperation in counter-terrorism training
and exchanges between experts on countering improvised explosive
devices, bomb incidents and technologies among others.
Progress
under the action plan will be reviewed through established institutional
arrangements, including the Foreign Ministers' Framework Dialogue and
the Defence Ministers' meeting.
"The Prime Minister of India and
the Prime Minister of Australia reaffirm that the strategic partnership
between India and Australia is based on converging political, economic
and strategic interests; a shared desire to promote regional and global
peace, security and prosperity; and a commitment to democracy, freedom,
human rights, and the rule of law," a Ministry of External Affairs
statement on the Framework for Security Cooperation said.
