Australia inks first defence pact with India, maritime ties focus
Dated 7/3/2006
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New Delhi: Signalling a full-fledged break from a bilateral past beset with military suspicion and criticism particularly in the maritime sphere, Australia concluded its first ever defence agreement with New Delhi on Monday evening with a significant focus on maritime security cooperation.
The MoU, signed by Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt and and Australian High Commissioner John McCarthy in the presence of PM Manmohan Singh and his visiting Australian counterpart John Howard, proposes cooperation in military joint-training, maritime security and defence R&D. The pact also envisages an India-Australia joint working group (JWG) on defence.
The agreement is something of turnaround on the Australian government
