Good morning. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to this special occasion to share the story that is long forgotten of our ANZACS and Indian soldiers that was born in Gallipoli.
I would like to begin by acknowledging the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation, the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today and pay my respects to their Elders past and present.
Can I also acknowledge:
- Dr Sushil Kumar – Consul General of India
- The Honourable Tim Watts MP – Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs & Trade
- The Honourable Ted Baillieu AO
- Steve McGhie MP – Member of the Legislative Assembly, Parliament of Victoria
- The Honourable Ivan Trayling OAM
- Roshena Campbell – City of Melbourne Councillor
- Colonel Rajesh Kaswan
- Colonel Paramjit Singh Brar
- Colonel Ashok Abhilashi
- Wing Commander Satish Kumar Singh
- Professor Peter Stanley who we will hear from shortly.
When we think about the Australia-India relationship today, it is one that we know much about, one that we call #dosti.
Over the last decade, it has become a deep connection built on shared interests and trust that strategically helps to create a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.
And that connection reaches far beyond geopolitical, security and economic bonds.
Today our ties span across education, culture, and sports, and our growing Indian diaspora in Australia acts as the glue between our two nations to help create a rich partnership.
Yet our defence partnership is one of the strongest. In the last eight months alone, the two nations have had four joint naval exercises with one another. In 2023, Australia hosted the AUSINDEX in Sydney, the largest-ever peacetime deployment of Australian assets and troops to conduct complex maritime exercises with India.
The Royal Australian Navy also held the Malabar exercise for the first time in August 2023. Just to name a few.
That is why the Institute’s Defence program is so important, focused on finding the gaps and enabling discussion on new areas of Australia-India defence and security cooperation.
At the Institute, we have made headways with our Kolkata Dialogue and Sydney Defence Tech dialogue.
But they were only the beginning in trying to explore our bilateral efforts to build a resilient and prosperous neighbourhood.
This year we will explore further research and policy in areas of Maritime Domain Awareness and other ongoing security threats to the Indian and Pacific Ocean region.
This brings us to the relevance of today’s event. As Australians, we have grown up learning about the courageous acts of the Australian and New Zealand Allied Forces after they landed on Gallipoli on April 25, 1915.
We have heard stories of what transpired over the next eight months.
But what is often unmentioned and mostly forgotten is the role that 16,000 Indian troops played and the bond that formed between them and the Allied Forces as the two valiantly served alongside each other.
The battle at Gallipoli saw the beginning of a dynamic connection between Australia and India. However, it is a connection forged not only in history but in their shared pursuit of progress, prosperity, and peace today.
The Indian story of Gallipoli has been told before. But today, we’re telling it again in new and unexpected ways.
So, let today be a reminder to reaffirm our commitment to the ties of our two countries and strive to build a future where the spirit of the Anzac lives on.
Thanks to Mr. Mark Trayling, we are honoured to unveil the Bahadur painting.
It was painted by mouth by Mr Ghosh, a resident of the Paraplegic Centre for Armed Forces in Pune, India.
This painting encapsulates the profound bond that emerged between the ANZACs and Indians and pays tribute to the remarkable story of friendship, resilience and solidarity forged amidst the trials of war.
We also have Professor Peter Stanley as our keynote speaker, who had undertaken the first study of the Indian Army’s part in the Gallipoli campaign in his book Die in Battle, Do not Despair.
He has published over forty books, mainly in the field of Australian military history, including Bad Characters, joint winner of the Prime Minister’s Prize for Australian History in 2011.
Prof. Stanley has also written on the military history of British India, as well as a series of historical novels set in mid-nineteenth-century British India.
Please let us welcome Professor Peter Stanley to deliver his speech.