From classmates to counterparts: India–Australia army chiefs reconnect as ‘Alumni Connect’ deepens defence ties

Posted by admin_kas on 2025-08-10 21:12:57 |

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KS News Desk

New Delhi, Aug 10: When army officers train together, they often form bonds that last for decades. Those bonds matter in diplomacy because they build trust, make talks easier and help forces work together in peace and in crisis. 

This idea — called the “Alumni Connect” — is at the heart of the visit to India by Lieutenant General Simon Stuart, Chief of the Australian Army, from today to 14, 2025.

General Stuart and India’s Chief of Army Staff, General Upendra Dwivedi, trained together at the United States Army War College in 2015. 

Defence officials say that shared classroom time and training help officers understand each other’s countries, cultures and armed forces. That personal understanding, they add, becomes a quiet but powerful tool of strategic cooperation between armies.

India’s top military schools — the Indian Military Academy (IMA), National Defence College (NDC), Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) and the National Defence Academy (NDA) — have for decades hosted officers from friendly foreign countries. Many of these visiting officers later rose to the highest ranks in their own forces. The public list shows that eight senior officers from Sri Lanka, including current and retired chiefs, trained in India; nine senior officers from Nepal; six from Bangladesh; six from Malaysia; two from Bhutan; three from Nigeria; and two from Australia. Chiefs and senior commanders from other countries such as Maldives, France, Tanzania, South Korea, New Zealand, Namibia, Kenya, Fiji and Thailand also share training links with India.

The exchange goes both ways. Indian officers have attended premier foreign schools such as the US Army War College, the Royal College of Defence Studies in the United Kingdom, and the École de Guerre in France. Historic examples include Field Marshals K.M. Cariappa and S.H.F.J. Manekshaw, alumni of the Imperial Defence College in the UK. General Upendra Dwivedi himself is an alumnus of the US Army War College.

Recognising the diplomatic value of these ties, the Indian Army is now formalising an “Alumni Connect” program. The effort includes keeping databases of foreign alumni, organising reunions, and promoting ongoing professional contact through think-tank partnerships. One such move is a renewed five-year memorandum of understanding between the Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) and the Australian Army Research Centre (AARC). The army is also exploring digital platforms such as a “Friends for Life” portal to keep old classmates in touch long after the course ends.

Officials say this network is more than nostalgia. It is a practical tool that helps armies coordinate operations, share ideas, and respond faster during crises. As India seeks a larger role in regional and global security — from the Indo-Pacific to United Nations peacekeeping — these personal ties between officers are expected to make cooperation smoother and more effective.

Lieutenant General Stuart’s visit is therefore being treated as both a formal diplomatic engagement and a reunion of old colleagues. Defence sources say the meetings will use the personal trust built over years of shared training to strengthen military ties and practical cooperation between India and Australia.

In short, what begins as shared training in classrooms or barracks often grows into a lifetime of professional contact. For the two armies, that “Alumni Connect” may prove as important as formal agreements in shaping the future of defence cooperation.