Australia-India PACTS replaces 2020 cyber framework, expands supply chain, DPI collaboration

Australia and India have established the 'Australia-India Partnership on Cyber, Critical Technologies and Supply Chains (PACTS)' to elevate their bilateral cooperation in cyber security, critical technologies, and supply chain resilience. This new framework succeeds and replaces the 2020 Framework Arrangement on Cyber and Cyber Enabled Critical Technology Cooperation.

The agreement involves the governments of Australia and India, specifically the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Defence, National Security Council Secretariat, and Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia). It affects and engages the private sector, universities, research institutions, and specific industries including telecommunications, biotechnology, advanced materials, space, semi-conductors, critical minerals, and defence science.

• Establishment of a bilateral mechanism for collaboration on trusted vendor frameworks.
• Cooperation on secure undersea cable connectivity across the Indo-Pacific, including through the Quad Partnership for Cable Connectivity and Resilience.
• Collaboration between research institutes to protect semi-conductor supply chains and develop secure critical minerals supply chains.
• Development of consensus-driven, multistakeholder frameworks for trustworthy AI, including sharing approaches on securing access to compute and large language models.
• Refocusing research and investment partnerships on advanced materials, telecommunications, and biotechnology.
• Exploration of joint commercial and government-led space sector initiatives.
• Establishment of a consolidated bilateral mechanism in cyber and ICT fields to streamline capacity building and avoid duplication.
• Creation of a cyber tech skill incubator hub.
• Scaling and diffusing India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) solutions to the Indo-Pacific region.
• Regularisation of working-level exchanges between Australia's Defence Science and Technology Group and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• Focus on innovative maritime science and technology capabilities for defence applications.

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