On behalf of the Coalition, I send my best wishes to the people of India, to Prime Minister Modi, and to Australians of Indian ancestry as you celebrate India’s Republic Day.
It was on this day 74 years ago when India’s Constitution came into force. It was a triumph for a new and young nation which had only become independent 895 days earlier.
During the historical event in 1950, the first President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad, famously said:
“Our Constitution is a democratic instrument seeking to ensure to the individual citizens the freedoms which are so invaluable.
India has never prescribed or prosecuted opinion and faith and our philosophy has room as much for a devotee of a personal god, as for an agnostic or an atheist.
We shall, therefore, be only implementing in practice under our Constitution what we have inherited from our traditions, namely, freedom of opinion and expression.”
Today, as Australians serendipitously celebrate our national day and our own modern democratic achievement, we extend our congratulations to our friends in India.
Each year, Australia and India open new pipelines of friendship, opportunity and enterprise which multiply the connections between our two nations – a true sign of the growing strength of our democracies.
Happy Republic Day to India.
Hon Peter Dutton MP
Leader of the Opposition
26 January 2024
Hon Peter Dutton MP leader of the opposition message on India’s Republic Day added by Indian newspaper Sydney on
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