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Triveni Parliament Reception

Breakfast reception hosted by the Parliament of Western Australia for the officers of the Indian Army Sailing Vessel Triveni on 4 November 2025:

Hon Alanna Clohesy, President of the Legislative Council,
Hon’ble Stephen Price, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly,
Other distinguished members of the Parliament of Western Australia,
Kaya, namaste, sat sri akal, assalam alaikum, and a very good afternoon.

I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land, the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation, and pay my respects to their Elders - past, present, and emerging.

The IASV Triveni set sail from Mumbai on 11 September this year, and was flagged into the port of Fremantle on 26 October, thus completing one and a half months at sea. It is my honour to introduce the team of young officers from the Indian Army, Air force and Navy to all of you today. Lt Col Anuja H Varudkar (skipper), Maj Karamjeet Kaur, Lt Cdr Priyanka Gusain, Sqn Ldr Shraddha P Raju, Wg Cdr Vibha Singh and Maj Dalvi Omita Sanjiv have completed the first leg of a journey covering approximately 26,000 nautical miles. Sqn Ldr Aruvi Jaidev has flown in from India to join them for their onward journey where they will be touching Lyttleton in New Zealand, Buenos Aires in Argentina and Cape Town in South Africa.

I thank the Parliament of Western Australia, and President Alanna Clohesy for honouring us with such a warm reception. The girls have been very busy since their arrival, engaged in repair and refit of the beautiful 16-metre-long yacht with a mast height of 22.5 mt. They have however found time to offer seva at the Gurdwara Sahib at Canningvale, visit the Museum at Fremantle, interact with the students of the Fremantle College’s Maritime program, as well as give some of the students a tour of the boat. With many other engagements ahead of us for the next few days, I am sure that today’s reception will have a special in our hearts.

The first-ever such voyage made by an all-women’s crew hopes to spread the message of the power of women, the power of youth, the need to safeguard the freedom of navigation and the seas, to raise awareness on the impact of climate change in the maritime domain and of the centrality of the oceans to human civilization. It is also about embracing the spirit of adventure, and I look forward to hearing of the thrilling tales of endurance and adventure from the heroes themselves.