Melbourne / Sydney:
About 170 people of Indian descent boarded a chartered flight from Melbourne to Sydney to attend an event by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A Qantas flight arrived in Sydney this morning.
Wearing tri-colour turbans and waving national flags, members of the Indo-Australian Diaspora Foundation (IADF) danced their way to the flight dubbed “Modi’s Airways” by the prime minister’s supporters.
The Sydney event is being organized by the IADF to celebrate Australia’s dynamic and diverse Indian community, “an essential part of our multicultural society,” the Australian government said in a statement.
“A lot of people are waiting outside the event venue as well, as they will be cheering on PM Modi,” said Dr. Amit Sarwal, co-founder of the IADF.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to attend the event with Prime Minister Modi later today. In a bilateral meeting tomorrow, the leaders will discuss trade, investment, renewable energy, and defense and security cooperation.
He arrived here from Papua New Guinea, where he held talks with his counterpart James Marape and assessed their bilateral relations.
The two leaders co-hosted the Forum for India-Pacific Island Cooperation (FIPC) summit on Monday, to boost regional cooperation.
Prime Minister Modi kicked off his three-country tour on Friday from Japan, where he attended three sessions of the G7 summit after an invitation from his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.
The prime minister, along with US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, also attended the third quartet summit in Hiroshima.
The Quartet’s meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima was moved after US President Joe Biden postponed his trip to Australia amid ongoing negotiations over raising the US debt limit.