{"id":38248,"date":"2023-11-21T12:40:58","date_gmt":"2023-11-21T07:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=38248"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:14:50","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T03:44:50","slug":"22-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/22-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"India, Australia 2+2 talks"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Why in news?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Defence Minister Rajnath Singh engaged in bilateral talks with Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles in New Delhi.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>2+2 Dialogues \u2013 About, India\u2019s partners<\/li>\n<li>India-Australia 2+2 Dialogue &#8211; Background<\/li>\n<li>News Summary<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>2+2 talks<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>About\n<ul>\n<li>The 2+2 dialogue is a format of meeting of the <u>foreign and defence ministers of India and its allies<\/u> on strategic and security issues.<\/li>\n<li>It enables the partners to better understand and appreciate each other\u2019s strategic concerns and sensitivities.<\/li>\n<li>It helps the dialogue partners to take into account political factors on both sides, in order to build a stronger, more integrated strategic relationship.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>2+2 talks between India and allies\n<ul>\n<li>India has 2+2 dialogues with <u>five key strategic partners<\/u>: the US, Australia, Japan, Russia and the UK.<\/li>\n<li>Besides Russia, other three countries are also India\u2019s partners in the Quad.<\/li>\n<li>The inaugural 2+2 dialogue with Australia was held in September 2021 in New Delhi.<\/li>\n<li>India held its first 2+2 dialogue with Russia in December 2021, when Russian Foreign Minister and Defence Minister visited India.<\/li>\n<li>The first India-Japan talks in the 2+2 format were held in November 2019 in New Delhi.<\/li>\n<li>The inaugural India-UK 2+2 Foreign and Defence Dialogue was held in New Delhi in October 2023.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>India-Australia 2+2 Dialogue: Background<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The 2+2 dialogue is the outcome of a decision made at the <u>India-Australia leaders\u2019 virtual summit in June 2020<\/u>.<\/li>\n<li>During this summit, both sides decided to elevate bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership.<\/li>\n<li>As per the agreement, Foreign and Defence Ministers meeting in a \u20182+2\u2019 format is to discuss strategic issues <u>at least every two years<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>News Summary: India, Australia 2+2 talks<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>India and Australia held 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue to step up defence cooperation and deepen the strategic relationship in sectors such as critical minerals and trade and investment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Key highlights<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Critical areas covered\n<ul>\n<li>The discussion covered critical areas including:\n<ul>\n<li>anti-submarine warfare and air-to-air refuelling,<\/li>\n<li>security in the vast Indo-Pacific region amid China\u2019s rising influence,<\/li>\n<li>hydrography cooperation and<\/li>\n<li>strengthening ties in sectors such as critical minerals, space, education, and science and technology.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The two sides are in an advanced stage of discussion to conclude implementing arrangements on hydrography cooperation and cooperation for air-to-air refuelling.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Security of the vast Indo-Pacific\n<ul>\n<li>The security of the vast Indo-Pacific has been in the spotlight amid China\u2019s growing influence in the region where it is setting up military bases.<\/li>\n<li>A strong India-Australia defence partnership will augur well not just for the mutual benefit of the two countries but also for the overall security of the Indo-Pacific.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Future areas of cooperation\n<ul>\n<li>Indian Defence Minister emphasised that the forces of the two countries should also look at cooperating in niche training areas like artificial Intelligence, anti-submarine and anti-drone warfare and cyber domain.<\/li>\n<li>India suggested that shipbuilding, ship repair and maintenance, and aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul could be the potential areas of collaboration.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>India \u2013 Australia growing defence cooperation<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Defence cooperation between India and Australia has seen a transformation in recent years.<\/li>\n<li>Cooperation in QUAD\n<ul>\n<li>Both India and Australia are members of Quad.<\/li>\n<li>Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA), subsurface domain awareness, and anti-submarine warfare have been major focus areas for the Quad.<\/li>\n<li>In information sharing, the Quad\u2019s Indo-Pacific MDA or IPMDA is currently in the implementation phase.\n<ul>\n<li>IPMDA is a technology and training initiative to increase maritime domain awareness in the Indo-Pacific region.<\/li>\n<li>It was introduced at the Tokyo summit in 2022.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Bilateral cooperation\n<ul>\n<li>India and Australia signed a Mutual Logistics Support agreement in 2020.<\/li>\n<li>The two Navies signed the \u2018<u>Joint Guidance for the India-Australia Navy to Navy Relationship\u2019 document in August 2021<\/u>.<\/li>\n<li>Australia also has a Liaison Officer at the Indian Navy\u2019s Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean Region.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Several firsts in 2023 in bilateral defence cooperation\n<ul>\n<li>There have been several firsts this year in bilateral defence cooperation:\n<ul>\n<li>the maiden visit of an Indian Navy submarine to Australia;<\/li>\n<li>Canberra hosting the Malabar naval exercise; and<\/li>\n<li>Indian Navy Dornier and Air Force C-130 visiting Cocos Keeling island.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Q1)\u00a0What is Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA)?<\/h3>\n<p>Maritime domain awareness (MDA) is the understanding of anything that could affect the maritime domain&#8217;s security, safety, economy, or environment. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) defines MDA as a &#8220;key enabler&#8221; for other maritime security issues.<\/p>\n<h3>Q2)\u00a0where are Cocos (Keeling) Islands located?<\/h3>\n<p>The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are located in the Indian Ocean. They are Australia&#8217;s most westerly tropical possession. The islands are located at 12\u00b010&#8217;S and 96\u00b050&#8217;E.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/india-australia-hold-22-ministerial-dialogue-to-step-up-strategic-ties\/article67555708.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>India, Australia hold 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue to step up strategic ties<\/u><\/a><u> | <\/u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mea.gov.in\/press-releases.htm?dtl\/37270\/Second+IndiaAustralia+22+Defence+and+Foreign+Ministerial+Dialogue+November+20+2023\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>MEA<\/u><\/a><u> | <\/u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/india-australia-finalising-agreements-for-cooperation-in-hydrography-and-air-to-air-refuelling\/article67554846.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>The Hindu<\/u><\/a><u> | <\/u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/india-news\/india-aus-talks-focus-on-defence-regional-security-101700504604210.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Hindustan Times<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2+2 mechanism enables the partners to better understand each other\u2019s strategic concerns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":38249,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-38248","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}