<P> The Indo - Australian Plate is a major tectonic plate that includes the continent of Australia and surrounding ocean , and extends northwest to include the Indian subcontinent and adjacent waters . It was formed by the fusion of Indian and Australian plates 43 million years ago . Recent studies , and seismic events such as the 2012 Indian Ocean earthquakes , suggest that the Indo - Australian Plate may have broken up into two or three separate plates due primarily to stresses induced by the collision of the Indo - Australian Plate with Eurasia along the Himalayas , and that the Indian Plate and Australian Plate have been separate since at least 3 million years ago . </P>
which landmass is moving northward with australia as part of the same tectonic plate
Indian subcontinent