Australia expelled Indian ‘spies’ in 2020 for allegedly stealing classified data, claim reports

Australia expelled two Indian spies in 2020 after they were allegedly caught stealing classified information about sensitive defence projects, airport security and the country’s trade relationships, a report by The Sydney Morning Herald claimed on Tuesday.

The report claimed that in 2021, Mike Burgess, the director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, had mentioned the alleged “spy ring” in his annual threat assessment. However, at the time he had not disclosed which country was allegedly involved in it.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation is the country’s national security agency.

National security officials and government officials have now confirmed that India’s foreign intelligence service was responsible for the alleged “nest of spies”, a report by Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the country’s public broadcaster, claimed on Tuesday. The report also claimed that “a number” of Indian officials were expelled from Australia in 2020.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation report also claimed that the now-expelled spies were closely monitoring Indians living in Australia and had developed close relationships with current and former politicians.

India and Australia share close bilateral ties and are part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, which also includes the United States and Japan. The Quad is seen as a collaboration to counter the growing influence of China in the Indo-Pacific region.

However, Burgess had hinted...

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