Modi addresses 30,000 Indian-Australians at Melbourne's Marvel Stadium
PM Narendra Modi credited the Indian diaspora for the India-Australia relationship before a 30,000-strong Marvel Stadium crowd on 9 July, after a summit with Anthony Albanese produced 18 outcomes across defence, energy and trade.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a crowd of more than 30,000 at Melbourne's Marvel Stadium on 9 July that it was the Indian diaspora, not him, that had built India's relationship with Australia. "This demonstrates the great heights that the relationship between India and Australia has reached. And do you know who played the biggest role in this? It wasn't Modi; it was all of you," he said at the event billed "Melbourne Meets Modi," according to ANI and IANS.
It was Modi's third visit to Australia in 12 years, and among the largest gatherings for any world leader in the country. He opened by thanking the crowd — "The weather in Melbourne may be cold but the warmth of the welcome from the Indian community was truly unforgettable" — and nodded to the community's footprint across the city: "Some call them 'Little India,' others 'Mini India'; whatever the name, they are steeped in Indian culture."
The rally followed a summit with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that produced 18 outcomes across defence, energy and trade, accelerating the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement and expanding the two countries' Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Bloomberg reported.
No diaspora-specific measure — an OCI, visa or consular change — was announced from the stage; the concrete deliverables came from the Albanese summit. But Indians are now among Australia's largest and fastest-growing migrant communities, which is why a Melbourne stadium filling for a visiting Indian leader is, itself, the story.
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