NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday told Australia that its actions against Pakistan during the recent four-day military confrontation under Operation Sindoor were “measured, non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible”, during talks between defence minister Rajnath Singh and his Australian counterpart Richard Marles, who is also the deputy prime minister of that country and is on a two-day visit to India.

Singh underscored India’s right to respond in self-defence against cross-border terror, and the two leaders agreed to work together to combat terrorism. The meeting came at a critical moment as India is taking steps to isolate Islamabad globally following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. India sent seven multi-party delegations to 33 countries to explain its new approach to combating Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and the rationale behind Operation Sindoor — India’s strikes on terror and military installations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) following the Pahalgam terror strike in which 26 people were shot dead.

The delegations have underlined the need to hold Pakistan and its military establishment accountable for supporting terror groups.

Both ministers strongly condemned the terror attack in Pahalgam and expressed deepest condolences to the families of the victims, the defence ministry said.

“India thanks Australia for its unequivocal support to India’s resolute response against the barbaric act of terror in Pahalgam,” Singh wrote on X, adding that the two leaders reviewed the full range of the India-Australia defence partnership.

Pakistan’s Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos, which was mounted in response to Operation Sindoor, “folded in eight hours” on May 10 belying Islamabad’s ambitious target of bringing India to its knees in 48 hours, chief of defence staff General Anil Chauhan said on Tuesday.

Between the launch of the operation in the early hours of May 7 and the ceasefire on the evening of May 10, Indian forces bombed nine terror camps in Pakistan and PoK and killed at least 100 terrorists, and the Indian Air Force struck targets at 13 Pakistani air bases and military installations.

On Tuesday, it emerged that India’s targeting of locations within Pakistan during the May 7-10 clash was more extensive than was previously known, with a Pakistani document acknowledging that Indian drones had struck locations ranging from Peshawar in the northwest to Hyderabad in the south.

Marles’ personal commitment and leadership in strengthening bilateral defence cooperation has emerged as an important pillar of the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Singh said.

“The two ministers agreed to intensify and diversify defence industry collaboration, and further defence science and technology collaboration projects when they meet in Australia later this year for the third India-Australia 2+2 ministerial meeting. They also reviewed the progress made since the last 2+2 ministerial dialogue in November 2023,” the defence ministry said in a statement.

On the fifth anniversary of the signing of India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, both sides noted that the defence sector has emerged as a key pillar of the collaboration.

The two leaders expressed satisfaction at the growing strategic convergence between the two countries and agreed to work together to further the shared objectives of peace, prosperity, stability and progress in the Indian Ocean region, and the larger Indo-Pacific.

During the second India-Australia 2+2 foreign and defence ministerial dialogue in 2023, leaders from the two countries held talks centred around deepening military cooperation in critical areas including anti-submarine warfare and air-to-air refuelling, security in the Indo-Pacific region amid China’s rising influence, hydrography cooperation and strengthening ties in sectors such as critical minerals, science and technology, space and education.

India has 2+2 ministerial dialogues with only a handful of countries, including the US, Japan and Russia.

Last year, India and Australia signed an agreement to enable their air forces to conduct air-to-air refuelling, a move aimed at boosting inter-operability between the two sides.