On September 30, the Indian Navy and PLA Navy crossed a major milestone in military cooperation when Indian frigate INS Sahyadri and Chinese detroyer Qingdao participated in a marine security exercise off the coast of New South Wales, Australia where both ships were attending a multilateral meet. Personnel from both ships visited the other on skiffs, and interacted at a tactical level.

The exchange was focused on joint boarding drills, anti-piracy and security in sea lanes. Indian Navy sources said the exercise would go a long way in paving the way for expansion in cooperation between the two countries. High level diplomatic visits to Beijing this year have also cemented defence cooperation that sets the stage for more complex exercises between the two countries, despite no real movement forward on the border dispute. The two countries' armies will be holding a counter-terrorism exercise in November.