India-Australia Set To Deepen Defence Ties; To Hold The First-Ever '2+2' Meet This Week

Set to further bolster the deep bilateral defence ties, India and Australia are gearing for more combat exercises, and greater cooperation on maritime security and information sharing, reports Times of India.

The matters will be taken up in the days to come when the two countries hold their first-ever "2+2" format dialogue at the defence and foreign ministry levels.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be meeting with his Australian counterpart Peter Dutton on 10 September who is set to arrive in New Delhi soon. They will then be joining External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar who will be meeting with his counterpart, Marise Payne, a day later.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that India and Australia have also just kicked off the fourth edition of the "Ausindex" naval drill off Darwin. India has deployed the guided-missile frigate INS Shivalik and anti-submarine corvette INS Kadmatt for the same.