Modi receives rockstar welcome in Australia

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has flown into Australia and received a rockstar welcome from the Indian community ahead of planned talks with Anthony Albanese.

Mr Modi touched down in Sydney Airport on Monday night, where he was greeted by Australia’s high commissioner to India, Barry O’Farrell, and NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey, who is the son of migrants from the Punjab region.

Pictures show Mr Farrell and a number of diplomats welcoming India’s leader with the traditional Hindu greeting of ‘Namaste’.

He is also seen greeting several members of the Indian community who gave him a warm reception.

Thousands of members of the Indian diaspora will gather for prime minister Modi’s whistle-stop tour of the harbourside city.

Mr Modi will attend a community event to be held at Qudos Bank Arena on Tuesday night.

About 20,000 ecstatic supporters, mostly from the Indian community, are expected to attend.

It’s understood Mr Modi will retrace steps taken in his last Australian visit eight years ago at the event.

The Indian Australian Diaspora Foundation said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese would also attend in ‘a momentous occasion to strengthen bilateral relations’.

Talks between the two leaders are expected to focus on education, critical minerals and Chinese supply chain dominance.

Net zero carbon emissions, defence co-operation, and growing bilateral investment are also expected to be topics of discussion.

But the federal government is under pressure to also raise human rights abuses with Narendra Modi.

Human Rights Watch’s Asia director Elaine Pearson wants Mr Albanese to raise the plight of Muslim and minority communities in India.

Crackdowns on freedom of speech meant Mr Modi had been shielded from public criticism of human rights abuses, she said.

‘The Australian government should view his visit to Sydney as a key opportunity to raise with him the criticisms and concerns he doesn’t hear in India,’ Ms Pearson told AAP.

‘Muslims and Christians have faced discrimination, threats and violent attacks.

‘Draconian laws are regularly used to target journalists, civil society groups and government critics.’

Greens senator David Shoebridge said Australia should have a strong relationship with India, but it should be ‘a friendship of truth’.

‘We have said repeatedly that the degrading human rights situation in India, the lack of freedom of the press needs to be an issue that is squarely raised,’ he said.

India’s high commissioner to Australia Manpreet Vohra doesn’t think the issue will be raised in discussions, saying stories about vandalisation of temples and violence and intimidation could have been perpetrated by a small number of people.

‘There is action being taken against the violators by the authorities over there and I don’t think that is going to impact the overall importance or the smooth nature of how the visit will proceed,’ he told ABC radio.

‘So we’ll see about who raises what and how it has to be responded to but I don’t anticipate that any of this is at all on the agenda of the Australian government.’

Indo-Pacific security expert Ashok Sharma says Indians across the board had benefited under Mr Modi’s tenure, arguing criticism was driven by political motives.

Australia and India needed to work together to shore up regional security against Chinese dominance, he said.

There was also a role for both nations to play alongside the United States to boost research and share technology, especially critical minerals and renewable energy.

‘Both countries have got to do a lot of work on this, China is trying to dominate this space, both commercially and with critical minerals,’ Dr Sharma told AAP.

The relationship between Canberra and New Delhi had grown at a rapid pace, including through defence co-operation and military training exercises.

‘We need to establish Indo-Pacific security,’ he said.

‘Australia and India also have to work on non-traditional security initiatives, including on climate change.’

Mr Albanese said ahead of Mr Modi’s arrival the visit would be a chance to hold serious discussions about the Indo-Pacific.

‘Australia and India share a commitment to a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific,’ he said on Monday.

‘Together we have an important role to play in supporting this vision. As friends and partners, the relationship between our countries has never been closer.

‘I look forward to celebrating Australia’s vibrant Indian community with Prime Minister Modi in Sydney.’

During his two-day visit to the country, Mr Modi is expected to drop by Indian businesses in western Sydney for the unveiling of a foundation stone at the entrance to ‘Little India’ at Harris Park.

One in three residents of Harris Park was born in India, 10 times the share in Greater Sydney or elsewhere in Australia, and the suburb is home to a bustling retail and dining precinct showcasing the best of the subcontinent.

His visit comes after the scheduled Quad leaders summit this week in Sydney was cancelled after US President Joe Biden pulled out due to domestic issues surrounding the debt crisis.

Instead the Quad leaders met on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Japan over the weekend.

Mr Modi last visited Australia in 2014.

Mr Albanese plans to visit India in September for a meeting of G20 leaders in New Delhi.  (Daily Mail – Australia)