India and Australia are a few steps away from “practical cooperation” arrangements in intelligence, law enforcement, border security, terrorist financing and money laundering, sources said here earlier this week. This holds significance as the new Australian High Commissioner Peter Varghese was the head of the apex body on intelligence assessment in Canberra.

This will be discussed at the next meeting of the bilateral Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism and Immigration in New Delhi.

Discussions were held about these aspects at the meeting between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Australian counterpart, the visiting Foreign Minister Stephen Smith. Smith also met National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and Home Minister P Chidambaram.

The two countries have already signed a Memorandum of Understanding on money laundering in May.

Sources said that during the meeting, there was convergence of views on action against terrorism between the two ministers especially in the backdrop of Mumbai terror attacks.

Another area on which cooperation is expected to expand is political links and the two countries are finalising the details of a new young political leaders’ exchange programme.

On the recent issue of attacks against Indian students, the Australian Foreign Minister is understood to have told Krishna that the people who had committed offences against Indian nationals would “face the full force of the law”.