Australian Army Chief Lt Gen Simon Stuart will visit India from August 10–14 for high-level talks with Indian defence officials, including Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi.
The visit underscores deepening India–Australia military ties, with a focus on Indo-Pacific security, joint exercises, and defence collaboration.
Australian Army Chief To Visit India For Strategic Defence Talk
Lieutenant General Simon Stuart’s visit follows a series of high-level exchanges between India and Australia, reaffirming growing military cooperation in the Indo-Pacific through joint exercises, tech exchange, and strategic alignment.
Summary
Chief of the Australian Army, Lieutenant General Simon Stuart, is to visit India in mid-August for high-level discussions with Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi and other senior officials of the Ministry of Defence.
He is set to visit India from August 10 to 14.
According to the Indian Express, four months have passed since India's Chief of Defence Staff visited Australia, where he met at senior levels with the Chiefs of Staff Committee and Australia's Chief of Defence Force, Admiral David Johnston. Strengthening military cooperation, with a focus on Indo-Pacific maritime security, joint exercises, capacity building, defence technology exchange, and new bilateral initiatives were the main topics of discussion.
As both countries strive to maintain a stable and rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific, Army sources said to The Indian Express, this visit is strategically significant and reaffirms the deepening India–Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, especially in the military sphere.
India and Australia had earlier held the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in New Delhi in November 2023, and the next edition is scheduled in Australia in 2025, showcasing regular high-level dialogue between the two nations.
Reportedly, these dialogues, along with working groups and staff-level discussions, continue to drive forward-looking cooperation in capability development, logistics, interoperability, and strategic posturing in the Indo-Pacific, the sources said, adding that the Defence Policy Talks, which took place in Australia in July 2023, had offered a timely platform for reviewing ongoing collaboration and identifying new areas for joint initiatives.
The Indian Express reported that both armies have seen a growing operational cooperation between the Indian Army and the Australian Army, which was marked by increasing complexity, scale, and strategic relevance of joint exercises and deployments.
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