India and Australia Start Three-Year Undersea Surveillance Research Project

India and Australia have launched a three-year joint research programme aimed at improving undersea surveillance technologies that can track submarines and autonomous underwater vehicles. The initiative will pair Australia’s defence researchers with the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s Naval Physical & Oceanographic Laboratory in Kochi and will investigate the effectiveness of towed-array sonar and related acoustic systems, Australian High Commissioner to India Philip Green said in New Delhi. Green described the project as emblematic of a rapidly deepening strategic partnership, noting that the two countries are now ‘core’ security partners. He added that negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement are progressing, with the next Australian delegation expected in India for face-to-face talks in the coming weeks. Education also features prominently in the bilateral agenda. Green said Australia is encouraging more Indian students to join its universities and vocational institutes, calling India’s large youth population a natural match for Australia’s research and innovation capacity. The High Commissioner confirmed that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese intends to return to India later this year for the Quad leaders’ summit hosted by New Delhi, where he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discuss further defence and economic cooperation.