Melbourne, July 7 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Indian community in Australia is eagerly looking forward to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Melbourne, later this week with record crowds expected to attend 'Melbourne meets Modi' diaspora event on July 9.
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Melbourne, India's High Commissioner to Australia, Nagesh Singh, expressed the commitment of both nations to a free, open, peaceful, rule-based international order and Indo-Pacific.
In an interview with IANS, India's High Commissioner to Australia, Nagesh Singh, highlighted the tremendous enthusiasm across Australia about PM Modi's address at the Indian community event in Melbourne.
"There is a community event at Marvel Arena and you know that the Prime Minister is very popular. In Victoria State, I don't know the exact figures yet, but a senior politician here told me that there can be 5 to 7 lakh people who live in Victoria State, whose capital is Melbourne. In this event, it is our assumption that 25 to 30,000 people will participate and both the Prime Ministers will address the public and there is a lot of enthusiasm for this, because I have seen how people are coming from all over Australia, because Australia is a very big country," said Singh.
"So, people want to come here from all the states. Organisers have not been able to accommodate many people because there is limited space there. So this is a very important event and both the Prime Ministers will speak. People's enthusiasm increases when Modi ji speaks, they want to listen to him. You may remember that when the PM came here a few years ago, there was a similar event in Sydney, where Prime Minister Albanese called Prime Minister Modi 'the boss' because of the vibrancy and enthusiasm of the event. So, there will be a similar event here and I think it will be more than that this time," he added.
The Indian diplomat stressed that both countries share a "value-based relationship" and continue to work on having a rule-based international order and Indo-Pacific.
"Our two countries have same values. We want a free, open, peaceful, rule-based international order and Indo-Pacific. The objectives of both nations are same. We are democracies, multicultural, multi-ethnic societies. We take pride in our diversity, in our pluralism, in every sense. So, this value-based relationship brings us closer to each other. It is based on a solid foundation. We want peace and development. We don't want to attack or suppress anyone. Both the countries want to follow our developmental objectives, not just for ourselves, but for our regions, be it in South Asia, or here in the Pacific. Both the countries want peace and stability to prevail."
During the visit, the two leaders will also participate in the India-Australia Annual Summit. Singh touched on PM Modi's upcoming visit to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and noted that both nations want to expand sports cooperation beyond cricket.
"A programme is scheduled there as well. We want to have sports cooperation beyond cricket. Australia is a cricketing superpower. Australia has a population of around 28 million and it has excelled across a wide range of sports. Beyond sports itself, Australia is highly advanced in sports medicine, sports science, sports technology, sports management, and sports infrastructure. We want to build a partnership that expands cooperation beyond cricket and hockey to other sports as well," the Indian High Commissioner told IANS.
"Not just with regards to the exchange of teams but the whole sporting ecosystem, we can learn all that from each other... We will learn from Australia and also teach some things. In this, traditional sports and non-traditional sports, like in that programme, Kabaddi was chosen by India to show. From the Australian side, Australian rules football, which they call footy, that is being shown and there will be a presence of cricket there too. But, they want to go beyond cricket, that is the ambition," he added.
India's High Commissioner noted that Quad is a separate arrangement which has its own goals and ambitions while the India–Australia bilateral relationship stands on its own and continues to grow. He said that India and Australia participate in joint exercises, hold talks and delegations of two nations visit each other's countries.
"Quad is a separate arrangement, which is a grouping, in which there are four countries. It has its own goals and ambitions. We are working on India-Australia bilateral relationship and in that, like trade and investment, economic matters, defence and security, in that we are working together and it is very comprehensive. If you look at it, we have joint exercises, our delegations go to each other, there are staff level talks, both sides hold talks. So, it is increasing at the bilateral level. So it would be wrong to compare it with Quad because this bilateral relationship, it stands on its own.
"We also work in Quad. Similarly, there are trilaterals in which India, Canada, Australia, are working on new and critical technologies. There is one trilateral, India-Australia with Japan, which is working on resilient supply chains. So there are many such mini-laterals and mini-groupings. So bilateral relationship and Quad are different. They stand on their own merit and in their own place," he said.
The Quad is a diplomatic partnership between Australia, India, Japan, and the US committed to supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific that is inclusive and resilient.
Source: IANS
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