Context:

India and Australia inked a landmark agreement for reciprocal access to military bases for logistics support besides firming up six more pacts to further broaden ties.

Highlights of the Summit

• India and Australia forged a major defence alliance by signing an ‘Arrangement concerning Mutual Logistics Support (MLSA)’.
• The countries upgraded their relations to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’.
• The other important agreements signed during the summit include-
  • A framework arrangement on cyber and cyber-enabled critical technology cooperation
  • A memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in mining and processing of critical and strategic minerals
  • An implementing arrangement on cooperation in defence science and technology to the existing MoU on defence cooperation.
  • Vocational education
  • Water resources management
• The two countries also released a declaration on “Shared Vision for Maritime Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific” advocated for a “rules-based maritime order that is based on respect for sovereignty and international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law”.

Mutual Logistics Support Agreement

The Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) will allow militaries of the two countries to use each other’s bases for repair and replenishment of supplies besides facilitating scaling up of overall defence cooperation.

India-Australia’s other strategic partnerships

• Both the countries conduct naval exercises ‘AUSINDEX’, which was first started in 2015.
• The two armies had also launched exercises, the AUSTRAHIND, in 2016.
• In its White Paper on Foreign Policy in 2017, Australia recognized India as the “pre-eminent maritime power among Indian Ocean countries” and a “front-rank partner of Australia”.
  • There are also regular staff-to-staff talks between the three wings of the armed forces on both sides.