India, Australia to kick off defence drill in Perth today

Soon after India and Australia decided to further crank up their defence ties with an eye firmly on China’s aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific, the two countries are all set to kick off the bilateral ‘AustraHind’ tri-Service combat exercise at Perth from Thursday. Australia has also invited India as an “active participant” in its largest multination biennial exercise ‘Talisman Sabre’ in 2025. India had sent only observers for this year’s edition of the exercise in July-August.​