Indo-Pacific Analysis Brief Vol 57
Forging innovative partnerships: Australia-India cooperation for climate development and security in the Pacific
November 2025
By Ambika Vishwanath
Ambika is a Principal Research Fellow at La Trobe Asia and the Founder Director of Kubernein Initiative in India. She is a geopolitical expert and works at the intersection of emerging security challenges, climate security, and foreign policy. While in Australia she has been researching climate and security partnerships between India, Australia and the Pacific Region as a DFAT funded Maitri fellow.
Key Messages
↗ As Australia and India move into the next five years of their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, they have the opportunity to align closely on climate related security and innovative development efforts in the Pacific.
↗ It is necessary to move from reacting in isolation to climate events, to instead considering how climate events compound and cascade. This is integral for both understanding future risk and building resilience.
↗ Triangular cooperation between Australia, India, and partners in the Pacific offers new and innovative ways to target development gaps. By combining resources, knowledge, and skills, there is an opportunity to drive aid that is sustainable, effective, and locally owned.
↗ Gender inclusive approaches to development can be transformational, effectively contributing towards short- and medium-term adaptation strategies. While Australia and India have different approaches to gender development, this is an important area of future cooperation. .
Related insights
Indo-Pacific Analysis Briefs
The Indo-Pacific Analysis Briefs deliver concise, timely insights on critical regional developments. Drawing on perspectives from leading analysts in Asia, Australia and the United States, this series examines emerging issues shaping national and Indo-Pacific policy.