en.Wedoany.com Reported - India and Australia announced the establishment of the "Australia-India Partnership for Cyber, Critical Technologies, and Supply Chains" (PACTS) during the third Annual Australia-India Summit. This unified bilateral framework covers digital infrastructure, critical technologies, cybersecurity, and supply chain resilience, aiming to mitigate emerging risks in the Indo-Pacific region.
This partnership replaces the Framework Arrangement on Cyber and Cyber-Enabled Critical Technologies Cooperation signed in 2020. Both governments stated that PACTS will elevate their cooperation in critical technologies, supply chain diversification, cybersecurity, digital resilience, and defense research. The framework is jointly overseen by India's Deputy National Security Advisor and Australia's Deputy Secretary of the International and Security Group in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Annual senior officials' meetings will review progress, assess risks, and identify specific projects under each pillar.
In the field of digital infrastructure, both sides plan to establish bilateral mechanisms for trusted supplier frameworks and enhance collaboration in submarine cable resilience, telecommunications research, cybersecurity cooperation, and access to trusted digital infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific region. The two countries will deepen cooperation on submarine cable infrastructure through the "Quad Submarine Cable Connectivity and Resilience Partnership," focusing on secure, trusted, and resilient submarine connectivity in the Indo-Pacific, encompassing information sharing, coordination, and best practice exchanges. The framework explicitly identifies threats and disruptions as risks to submarine cable infrastructure, giving physical network resilience a prominent position in the bilateral technology relationship. Additionally, India and Australia plan to conduct research cooperation to protect semiconductor supply chains and promote joint development, while pursuing more secure critical minerals supply chains through coordinated investment, regulatory harmonization, recycling, and recovery.
Telecommunications and artificial intelligence infrastructure are listed as priority areas. India and Australia plan to refocus and accelerate existing bilateral research, innovation, and investment partnerships into areas such as telecommunications. Both sides also intend to share methods for securing computing power, large language models, and AI systems, and support trusted international standards and benchmarks. Cooperation will also extend to linkages between governments, private companies, universities, and research institutions to increase two-way investment in emerging technologies and improve the translation of intellectual property into commercial products.
Cybersecurity is a core component of the partnership. The two countries will work to establish unified bilateral mechanisms in the cyber and ICT domains to streamline capacity building and regional cooperation, and deepen international dialogue on data governance and telecommunications network security. Specific measures include holding joint government-stakeholder workshops, increasing trade and investment opportunities for cybersecurity and technology enterprises, and establishing cybersecurity and technology skills incubators.
In the space and defense sectors, PACTS opens new areas of cooperation. Both sides will explore joint commercial and government-led space initiatives. Australia is supporting India's "Gaganyaan" human spaceflight program and seeking deeper cooperation between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Australian Space Agency. In defense research, the framework aims to strengthen institutional ties between Australia's Defence Science and Technology Group and India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), as well as interactions between defense innovation ecosystems. Initial cooperation is expected to include maritime surveillance and advanced materials.
The framework also extends digital resilience to engagement with other Indo-Pacific countries. The two countries plan to promote trusted and scalable digital solutions, support exchanges aligned with the principles of India's Digital Public Infrastructure, and expand affordable digital public infrastructure solutions in areas such as connectivity, resilient critical infrastructure, healthcare, education, and energy.
