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INDIA–AUSTRALIA DEFENCE MINISTERS' DIALOGUE 2026 • Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Australian Deputy Prime Minister & Defence Minister Richard Marles co-chaired the 2nd India–Australia Defence Ministers' Dialogue in New Delhi. MARITIME SECURITY • Agreed to advance Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) through cooperation between maritime patrol aircraft. • Agreed to explore opportunities for enhancing Underwater Domain Awareness (UDA). • Cooperation to be strengthened between the Indian Coast Guard and Australia's Maritime Border Command. • Reaffirmed commitment to freedom of navigation, overflight and lawful use of seas under UNCLOS, 1982. INDIAN OCEAN COOPERATION • India and Australia are co-leads of the IORA Working Group on Maritime Safety and Security. • Both countries will jointly host a Search and Rescue (SAR) tabletop exercise at the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Chennai. DEFENCE & MILITARY COOPERATION • Agreed to improve interoperability under the Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement (MLSA), 2020. MILITARY EXERCISES • Exercise Milan – Multilateral naval exercise hosted by India. • Exercise Kakadu – Multinational maritime exercise hosted by Australia. • Exercise Pitch Black – Australia's premier multinational air combat exercise. • Exercise Talisman Sabre – Large-scale Australia–US military exercise. • Exercise Austrahind – Bilateral India–Australia army exercise; 2026 edition focused on amphibious and littoral operations. • Exercise Black Carillon – Multinational submarine rescue exercise. • Operation Render Safe 2026 – Australia-led mission to remove unexploded wartime ordnance in Pacific Island countries; India participated for the first time. FACT FILE • Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP): India–Australia relations elevated to CSP in 2020. • MLSA (2020): Allows reciprocal access to military bases, fuel, logistics and maintenance facilities. • UNCLOS (1982): Known as the "Constitution of the Oceans"; entered into force in 1994. • IORA Headquarters: Ebene, Mauritius.

UPSC 2001 #PYQ

Aravalli Definition Issue & High-Powered Committee • HPC (High-Powered Committee): Constituted by the Supreme Court under Kanchan Devi (DG, ICFRE) to review the October 2025 report on the definition of the Aravalli Hills. • 100-metre Controversy: The earlier panel proposed that only hills with elevation ≥100 m qualify as Aravalli hills. As per Forest Survey of India (FSI), this would leave only 1,048 out of Rajasthan’s 12,081 hills (~8.7%) under protection, excluding about 91% of hills. • 500-metre Gap Controversy: The report also proposed that Aravalli hills separated by more than 500 m should not be treated as a continuous range, potentially creating gaps where mining and other activities could be permitted. • Why Important? The dispute is essentially over whether Aravalli should be defined by height (100 m criterion) or by ecological continuity of the mountain system, which affects the extent of environmental protection. • Past SC-appointed Expert Panels: • Madhav Gadgil Committee – Western Ghats • Ravi Chopra Committee – Char Dham Project • M.G.K. Menon Committee – Hazardous Waste Management • Aravalli Fact: One of the oldest fold mountain ranges in the world, extending about 700 km from Delhi–Haryana–Rajasthan to Gujarat.