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India signs first ever TOR (Terms of Reference) Navy Agreement with Australia


India and Australia on Wednesday inked the ‘Terms of Reference’ (ToR) for the conduct of the navy to navy talks under the framework of the ‘Joint Guidance for the India - Australia Navy to Navy Relationship’ document.

In June last year, India and Australia elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership and signed a landmark deal for reciprocal access to military bases for logistics support during an online summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian Counterpart, Scott Morrison. The Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) allows militaries of the two countries to use each other’s bases for repair and replenishment of supplies, besides facilitating scaling up of overall defence cooperation.


"The document would be pivotal in consolidating the shared commitment to promote peace, security, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region,"

The ToR set out the broad objective of achieving deeper mutual understanding, trust and transparency, improved goodwill and understanding of each other’s concerns and future directions, and provides detailed guidance for the conduct of the bilateral talks. They also provide flexibility for implementation of separate agreements based on the specific outcomes of the talks.

This is the first such document signed by the Indian Navy with any country. The signing ceremony was held virtually between Rear Admiral Jaswinder Singh, of the Indian Navy and Rear Admiral Christopher Smith of the Royal Australian Navy.


The two navies had on August 18 signed a document titled ‘Joint Guidance’ to expand cooperation. “Consequent to the signing of ‘Joint Guidance for the India-Australia Navy to Navy Relationship’ document by the Chiefs of the Indian Navy and the Royal Australian Navy on August 18, the ‘terms of reference for the conduct of Navy-to-Navy Talks between the Indian Navy and the Royal Australian Navy’ was signed on September 29," the defence ministry said in a statement.

The ‘Joint Guidance’ document sets the Navy to Navy talks as the principal medium for guiding the bilateral relationship, the Indian Navy said. The document was signed by the Navy chiefs of both nations in August this year.

It said the document would be pivotal in consolidating the shared commitment to promote peace, security, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

Under this document, Navies of both the countries will try bring parity in the way they operate and the code language they use while giving signals. It is a truth that China has made significant growth with their navy in the Indian ocean which poses a threat to free and stable Indian Ocean. This will help both the countries to fight together if in future any threat comes their way. This will also help India to increase its influence in the Indian Ocean and to counter increasing influence of China in the region.

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