Chief of Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi visited Australia earlier this week and held interactions with senior officers of the Australian Army. The two armies have maintained close military ties over the past several decades, conducting joint exercises and sending student officers to each other’s premier training institutions. The military histories of Australia and India are deeply intertwined through their shared experience within the British Empire and Commonwealth. Although the modern armies of independent Australia (formed in 1901) and India (post-1947) have not engaged in large-scale joint combat operations since the Second World War, their soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder in some of the 20th century’s most iconic and brutal campaigns. These encounters – first at Gallipoli in 1915, then across the deserts of North Africa and the jungles of Malaya in 1941–42 – forged a legacy of mutual respect, tactical familiarity, and sacrifice that continues to underpin today’s strategic partnership. This essay examines those historical joint operations in detail before considering the evolution of their military relationship into the 21st century. World War I: …