IANS | 20 Nov, 2023
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a bilateral meeting with
Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles in
New Delhi on Monday.
An official said that both the nations are cooperating in areas
like Artificial Intelligence (AI), anti-submarine, anti-drone warfare
and cyber domain.
“The two sides are also in an advanced stage of
discussion to conclude implementing arrangements on Hydrography
Cooperation and cooperation for air-to-air refueling,” the official
said.
He said that both the sides expressed satisfaction at the
increasing military-to-military cooperation between the two countries,
including joint exercises, exchanges and institutional dialogue.
The
Defence Minister has also congratulated Minister Marles on the maiden
and successful conduct of multilateral exercise ‘Malabar’ by Australia
in August this year.
The two ministers agreed that deepening
cooperation in defence industry and research would give a fillip to the
already strong relationship.
The official said that the Defence
Minister has suggested that shipbuilding, ship repair and maintenance
and aircraft Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) could be the
potential areas of collaboration.
“The two ministers also discussed cooperation for joint research in underwater technologies,” the official said.