AUSINDEX, a naval exercise between India and Australia, was conducted to share a comprehensive strategic partnership to build and maintain a strong and stable military cooperation between the two nations. The bilateral relationship between India and Australia reached a watershed moment. The largest-ever peacetime deployment of Australian defence assets and troops to India during this joint naval exercise. The growing security cooperation between India and Australia has been viewed in the context of growing bilateral relationships. Exercise MALABAR also included the participation of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and Indian forces.
What Is AUSINDEX?
AUSINDEX is a bilateral operation every two years. In 2015 India hosted this for the first time. Australia hosted this recent exercise in 2021. Its goal is to empower the general commitment to global and regional security concerns in the Indo-Pacific area, fostering peace, security, and stability.
This naval exercise between India and Australia made both the countries join together to improve maritime connectivity by conducting more complex military exercises, underscoring each other’s firm commitment to an open, secure, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.
Key Aspects Of AUSINDEX
- The most important key aspect of AUSINDEX is partnering with India in the lively Indian Ocean Region.
- The Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy held an amazing assortment of high-end military hardware from the Australian navy, including HMAS Canberra, the Royal Australian Navy’s flagship, and the HMAS Collins submarine.
- Canberra is comparable to a small aircraft carrier in size. It can transport around 1,000 troops and 16 helicopters. Frigates, planes, and over 1,200 sailors, soldiers, women, and airmen joined these ships.
- This naval exercise between India and Australia was the most complicated between defence forces and was Australia’s largest defence deployment to India. Anti-submarine warfare exercises were conducted for the first time by navies.
- Other key aspects of AUSINDEX encompass sophisticated surface, subsurface, and air operations between member Navy ships, submarines, helicopters, and Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft.
Significance Of AUSINDEX
AUSINDEX has a definite mission to build a strong naval military connection between India and Australia. The significance of AUSINDEX between the Indian Navy and Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is:
- This (bilateral) exercise will boost bilateral cooperation and interoperability with the Royal Australian Navy in the Indo-Pacific region. This exercise gives our navies the chance to improve their collective defence capabilities to support a stable and secure Indo-Pacific.
- This naval exercise between India and Australia emphasises the importance of a shared worldview as open, free, and independent democracies, defenders of international law.
- Another significance of AUSINDEX between the Indian Navy and Royal Australian Navy is to enjoy a peaceful and prosperous Indian Ocean Region. They must prolong their work together to fight transnational crime, human smuggling, terrorism, and illegal fishing.
- With one of the largest Indian Ocean coastlines and around half of our total goods trade leaving Indian Ocean ports, Australia is implied to solve environmental and humanitarian issues in the Indian Ocean region.
Australia-India Military Ties
- As envisioned in the Framework Of Security Cooperation (FSC) announced by the prime leaders of both nations in 2014, these types of exercises promote bilateral and military cooperation between India and Australia.
- It is a true portrayal of the Joint Guidance signed in August 2021 by the Chief of Naval Staff, IN, and the Chief of Navy, RAN.
- The Joint Guidance is under the two countries’ 2020 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. It intends to strengthen its shared commitment to regional and global security problems while supporting peace, security, and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
Conclusion
From the above context, we understood the AUSINDEX military operation conducted between India and Australia by withholding their primary goal of strengthening their bilateral ties. Those two nations state and aspire to strengthen their shared commitment to regional and global security concerns in the Indo-Pacific region, security, fostering peace, and stability. Thus, this successful AUSINDEX naval exercise should be the next step forward in our strategic collaboration. At the same time, it is the obvious next step in an Australian-Indian friendship defined by increasing trust, understanding, and companionship.