Australia and India are entering a new phase of defence cooperation, but the challenge is increasingly how to translate strategic alignment into practical industrial capability. From defence innovation and autonomous undersea systems, to critical minerals and resilient supply chains, both countries have complementary capabilities that could support a more integrated defence-industrial relationship. The key question is how to move beyond dialogue and existing cooperation towards joint research, co-development, testing, procurement and co-production.
In July 2026 at the Third Australia India Leaders Summit, Prime Ministers Anthony Albanese and Narendra Modi agreed to deepen Australia–India defence cooperation, including through greater defence-industry integration, stronger supply-chain resilience, innovation, research and advanced technologies. This creates an opportunity to build a more commercially sustainable partnership that draws on Australia’s strengths in advanced research, technology and resources alongside India’s manufacturing scale, industrial capacity and growing defence innovation ecosystem.
The Australia–India Defence Industry Roundtable will bring together Australian and Indian defence policy experts, government representatives and industry stakeholders to examine practical pathways for strengthening bilateral defence-industrial cooperation.
Discussion Themes
- What are Australia and India’s defence priorities and policy settings, and what industrial capabilities are each country seeking to develop?
- What are the areas of common ground and opportunities to strengthen future bilateral defence and security cooperation?
- Which barriers to contracting, investment and intellectual property protection exist in the market, procurement and regulatory environments of both countries?
- How can Australian and Indian defence technology collaboration be better integrated to build future industry partnerships?
Australia-India Defence Industry Roundtable Sessions:
Session 1: Aligning Australia-India Defence Partnerships
Session 2: Strengthening Defence Industry Opportunities
