ARCHIVED MEDIA RELEASE
PA/27/2004 19 November 2004
Australian army chief on visit to India
The Chief of the Australian Army, Lieutenant General Peter Leahy, will commence a five day counterpart visit to India on 19 November. The visit, the first by a Chief of the Australian Army in the past several years, reflects the strong growth in the bilateral defence relationship between both countries over the past few years.
"Having visited India briefly as a junior officer, and more recently in 2001, I have for long been looking forward to the opportunity to return and foster the development of closer ties between the Indian and the Australian Armys," said Lieutenant General Leahy.
"The bilateral defence relationship has developed strongly over the past few years and I am looking forward to exploring with my counterpart, increased opportunities for army to army cooperation. In addition to the traditionally strong links between our two countries based on our shared military heritage, and our strong commitment to the war on terrorism, we share a strong commitment to enhanced stability within the Asia-Pacific region," Lieutenant General Leahy added.
Lieutenant General Leahy will interact with the Chief of the Army Staff, the Chief of the Naval Staff, the Chief of the Air Staff and the Defence Secretary. In addition to New Delhi, Lieutenant General Leahy will also visit army formations at Jodhpur, Agra and Headquarters Northern Command at Udhampur.
For further information please contact Colonel Paul Power, Defence Adviser, on 51494323.