Australian Indians or Australians of Indian heritage are the fastest growing community in Australia. According to the Statista 2024 report, net migration from India rose to 93,000 in 2023 when compared to 60,000 in 2009. The Indian community is nearly million strong in Australia and has a potent influence on the socio-cultural and economic fabrics of Australia.
Focusing on economic and trade relations, the two countries established a contemporary connection. The historians largely overshadowed the historical ties between India and Australia. Recent scientific studies show Indians reached Australia 4300 years ago, well before European settlers began navigating and colonising the region. The two ancient cultures, ie Indigenous Peoples of Australia and Indic traditions of India, share their core values on nature and environment. Prior to continental drift, India and Australia were part of the same continent. Its name is Gondwana, derived from the Gond tribes in India. India played a vital role in nurturing the new colony of Australia for at least the first 50 years since its inception. India was the extractive colony, whereas Australia was the privileged settler colony of the British Empire. The Girmit diaspora in Fiji resulted from massive recruitment of Indian indentured labourers by an Australian conglomerate called CSR. (Colonial Sugar Refining company)
With the above in backdrop, in my upcoming book ‘India- Australia – Bharat’s legacy of history, connection and diaspora’, I inspect the historical events that shaped the relationship between the two countries in contemporary times. Since I am not associated with any university departments or nor any ideology, being a first-generation diaspora member, I carefully connect the bits and pieces of events of the past to the current, which traditional academics don’t have the liberty to do so. Garuda Publishers, New Delhi, will publish the book, and launched within the next three to four months, both in India and Australia.