Rising India invited on board for war games

Australia has formally invited India to participate in its biggest military exercise with the US as Quad alliance partners ramp up defence co-operation to ­ensure a ‘free and open Indo-­Pacific’.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton, Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

Australia has formally invited India to participate in its biggest military exercise with the US as Quad alliance partners ramp up defence co-operation to ­ensure a “free and open Indo-­Pacific”.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton announced the invitation during high-level talks in New Delhi, saying India’s involvement in the biennial Talisman Sabre war games would “drive greater practical engagement between our armed forces”.

He and Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh also pledged closer co-operation to develop unmanned vehicles and other “niche“ ­defence technologies.

The defence ministers, together with Foreign Minister Marise Payne and her Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, vowed at the weekend’s “2+2” talks to oppose “coercive economic practices which undermine the rules-based trading system”.

The commitment was a clear reference to China’s trade bans against Australia, which the other Quadrilateral Security Dialogue partners – the US and Japan – have strongly rejected.

The inclusion of Indian forces in Talisman Sabre would bring all four Quadrilateral Security Dialogue partners together for the land, air and sea exercise, which this year included 17,000 personnel from seven nations.

India is yet to formally accept the invitation, but is considered likely to participate. Mr Dutton also confirmed Australia’s ongoing participation in India’s Malabar naval exercise, which ­includes all Quad partners.

Senator Payne and Mr Dutton will meet their South Korea counterparts in Seoul on Monday, ­before heading to Washington for AUSMIN talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and ­Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Mr Dutton said the security partnership between Australia and India was “essential for helping to ensure our region is secure and stable”.

“India is a rising Indo-Pacific great power and an increasingly significant security partner for Australia, particularly in the maritime domain,” he said. “We both depend on free and open ­access to sea lanes in the Indo-­Pacific for our trade and economic wellbeing (and) share an unwavering commitment to upholding the rules-based inter­national order and ensuring the Indo-Pacific is open, inclusive and, indeed, prosperous.”

The ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the Quad, which will come into sharper focus later this month at a leaders-level Quad meeting in Washington.

China has labelled the Quad as an “exclusive clique” and an “Asian NATO.