Following the new Defence Strategic Review, published in abridged declassified form last week, the government is preparing to expand the longstanding Defence Cooperation Program beyond the Pacific, South-East Asia and south Asia, into countries on the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.

This expanded program is expected to include Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Bangladesh – all of which have previously expressed a desire for more engagement.

It is also likely to entail a further broadening of ties with India, which is a member of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, alongside Australia, Japan and the United States.

But the expansion will not include Myanmar, whose military overthrew the democratically elected government in 2021 and jailed its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.