Australia and India: bound together by times of war

Following the recently concluded visit of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to India, Australia High Commissioner Patrick Suckling said that there is a growing interest in Australia and India's shared military history.

Abbott had commemorated the fallen soldiers, sailors and airmen from India and other allied nations who fought in World War I and subsequent conflicts, by laying a wreath at India Gate.

Suckling said, "Australia and Indian soldiers fought in both the World Wars together in several geographies, including Gallipoli, Palestine, Italy, Singapore and Malaya."

"I believe that there is growing recognition of this fact within India, and an increasing desire to honour those who gave their lives in service. I hope that Prime Minister Abbott's visit to India contributes to this understanding and that our two countries continue to recognise how our contemporary relationship is shaped by our history of shared sacrifice," Suckling added.

"As Prime Minister Abbott said when he was here, Australia is very conscious of these ties, which bind our two countries together. Australian and Indian soldiers were brothers in arms, fighting together in defence of freedom. It was appropriate that the Prime Minister paused to recognise this on his first official visit to India," he added.

On behalf of the governments of Australia and New Zealand, Abbott extended an invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the commemoration of the 100-year anniversary of the Gallipoli Campaign in 2015.

Nations with a close connection to the campaign will be invited to send high level representatives to the service.

"There were over 15,000 Indians on Gallipoli and approximately 1,600 lost their lives," Suckling said.

According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, by the end of the First World War in 1918, more than 10 lakh Indian personnel had served overseas.

Approximately 70,000 troops from the British Indian Empire gave their lives in the First World War, and over 9,200 decorations were earned, including 11 Victoria Crosses.