To further bilateral and multilateral cooperation and interoperability in the maritime domain, Indian Navy and Australian Navy on Wednesday signed a ‘joint guidance for Navy to Navy relationship’ document.
“The Joint Guidance would serve as a guideline document to showcase the intent of both the Navies to work together bi/multilaterally.
The broad scope of the guidance is focussed on developing mutual understanding, cooperate for regional security, collaborate in mutually beneficial activities and to develop interoperability,” the Navy said in a statement.
The highlights of document include close cooperation in regional and multilateral fora, including Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS), Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and expert working groups subordinate to the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus framework 
Bilateral defence relations between India and Australia has significantly expanded over the years and the two countries concluded a Mutual Logistics Support Agreement and also conducted a trilateral maritime security workshop. Australian Navy is also now part of the Malabar naval exercise which also includes Japan and U.S.

Chief of the Royal Australian Navy, Vice Admiral Michael Noonan, and Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy, Admiral Karambir Singh have signed a new Joint Guidance for the Australia – India 'Navy to Navy' relationship.