Rajnath Singh Visits Strategic Australian Naval Facility HMAS Kuttabul | India News

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, who is on an official visit to Australia, visited the historical and strategic naval facility HMAS Kuttabul in Sydney on Friday.

Sharing the update in a post on social media platform X, Singh said he was familiar with the facilities aboard the Admiral Hudson in Sydney Harbour.

“Today we visited the historic and strategic naval facility HMAS Kuttabul in Sydney. I was briefed about the impressive facilities in Sydney Harbor aboard Admiral Hudson. Both countries will benefit from deepening India-Australia naval cooperation and coordinated maritime domain awareness in the Indo-Pacific region,” the Defense Minister said.

Singh arrived in Sydney on Wednesday on a two-day official visit to Australia at the invitation of the country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles.

On Thursday, he held bilateral talks with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Defense Minister Richard Marles to explore new ways to strengthen cooperation between the two countries.

Following the meetings, Prime Minister Albanese wrote on social media: “Australia and India’s defense partnership continues to strengthen, based on trust, shared interests and a commitment to a peaceful, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific. Meeting Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on his first trip to Australia for the opening of the Australia-India Defense Ministers’ Dialogue Wonderful.”

Singh said his talks with Deputy Prime Minister Marles were “productive”, adding that both sides reviewed the entire spectrum of India-Australia defense cooperation, including the defense industry, cyber defence, maritime security and regional challenges.

He said that the talks reaffirmed the importance of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries.

As senior security partners, India and Australia discussed next steps to deepen defense relations, including enhancing strategic dialogue and increasing the sophistication of joint military exercises. These discussions took place during the Australia-India Defense Ministers Dialogue at Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday.

Rajnath Singh was welcomed by Deputy Prime Minister Marles at the opening session of the Dialogue, which marked a major milestone in the bilateral defense partnership. In his opening remarks, Singh said both sides have made significant progress in defense cooperation in a wide range of areas, keeping pace with the overall development of bilateral relations.