The author has very lucidly articulated his experience as an ‘exchange officer’ to the Indian Navy in the year 2009. It has been almost a decade and a half since then, and much water has flowed under the bridge in terms of India–Australia relations, particularly in the maritime domain. We are now ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partners,’ exploring new avenues in IN–RAN cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. Even the term Indo-Pacific is now firmly etched in our lexicons, though the definition and geographic limits vary depending on your country. These include enhanced interoperability between the two navies, maritime domain awareness (MDA) consolidation in the Indo-Pacific, maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) operating seamlessly from each other’s territories, information exchanges, subject-matter expertise exchanges (SMEE), and many more such initiatives. There have been increased interactions at the political and senior military levels. The prime ministers of both countries met six times bilaterally, while bilateral foreign-minister interactions occurred 11 times in the past 18 months. The Chief of Defence Staff and the Service Chiefs met their counterparts at least once this year. The General Rawat Young Officers’ Exchange Programme commenced this year, enabling a two-week exchange programme for 15 officers from all three services.Enhanced cooperation by the armies and air forces of both countries has also been noteworthy.
There is an increased level of understanding of each other between the IN and the RAN today, and this will only grow stronger in the days to come. Multilateral and mini-lateral and micro-lateral engagements with other like-minded friends and partners in the region and beyond will also increase in level and complexity soon. There is also immense potential in exploring defence-industry partnerships, especially in the maritime domain. Joint ventures on autonomous systems and other emerging technologies could complement the shipbuilding and repair industry in India and Australia.
However, despite the growing collaborations between the armed forces, there is still insufficient knowledge and a shallow understanding of each other’s ethos, work culture, professional military education and training. At the middle and junior officer and sailor level, personnel exchanges are still emerging and restricted to subscribed courses in each other’s institutions and colleges. Hence, there is scope to examine closely more officer and sailor exchanges on temporary deputations, and other professional exchanges between the navies’ academic institutions and training establishments, enhancing interoperability further. The 2009–2010 exchange should be more than a mere ‘flash in the pan.’
