PM Modi in Australia LIVE: PM Meets Top CEOs of Country, To Address Indian Diaspora Later

PM Modi In Australia LIVE Updates: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a three-nation tour, arrived in Australia for the third and final leg of his three-nation tour. PM Modi is visiting Australia from May 22-24 as a guest of the Australian Government, and during his three-day stay, he is scheduled to hold talks with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese and attend a community event to celebrate the country’s dynamic, diverse Indian diaspora.

Prime Minister Modi received a warm welcome from the Indian community upon landing in Sydney. This is the Indian PM’s second visit to Australia.

“PM Modi will hold a bilateral meeting with Australian PM Anthony Albanese, and meet Governor General David Hurley. He will also meet leading CEOs and address the Indian community here. Australian PM Anthony Albanese will also host a dinner for PM Modi.” Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said informing about PM Modi’s schedule.

Ahead of Modi’s arrival, Prime Minister Albanese said in a statement, “I am honoured to host Prime Minister Modi for an official visit to Australia, after receiving an extremely warm welcome in India earlier this year.”

“Australia and India share a commitment to a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific. Together we have an important role to play in supporting this vision,” he said, amidst China’s aggressive behaviour in the region as well as its efforts to expand its influence.

Prime Minister Modi has also said that he was looking forward to his meeting with Albanese on May 24.

Briefing the media, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said that all issues of bilateral engagement, including the issues which pertain to harmony in society, and the safety and security of the two societies would be discussed.

“It is not correct for me to prejudge what would be discussed between the two leaders,” he said in response to a question on pro-Khalistan activities in Australia.

During the visit, the Prime Ministers will attend a community event in Sydney to celebrate Australia’s dynamic and diverse Indian diaspora, “a core part of our multicultural community”, the Australian government said in a statement.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016 census, 619,164 people in Australia declared that they were of ethnic Indian ancestry. This comprises 2.8 per cent of the Australian population. Among those, 592,000 were born in India. Prime Minister Modi last visited Australia in 2014.

Modi arrived in Sydney from Papua New Guinea, where he held talks with his counterpart James Marape and took stock of their bilateral relations. He also discussed ways to further augment cooperation in areas like commerce, technology, healthcare and climate change.

The two leaders co-hosted the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) summit on Monday, fostering regional cooperation.

During the summit on Monday, PM Modi unveiled a 12-point development plan for the Pacific Island nations in a range of areas including healthcare, renewable energy and cyber-security as he announced that India is ready to share its capabilities with the region “without any hesitation”.

Modi began his three-nation tour on Friday from Japan where he attended three sessions at the G7 summit following an invitation by Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.

Modi along with US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese also attended the 3rd in-person Quad Summit in Hiroshima.

The Quad meeting was moved to the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Hiroshima after US President Biden postponed his trip to Australia to return to Washington, amid ongoing negotiations over raising the US debt limit.