Sydney: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to leave for Australia on Thursday to attend the G-20 Summit. Preparations in Sydney are in full swing especially for his address to the Indian community at the Allphones Arena at Sydney Olympic Park.
The Indian community in Australia expressed their excitement over the event.
“We are very excited, especially the Indian community in Australia, this is the biggest welcome for any political leader from India. We are earning lot of respect because of him in Australia, we support and welcome him,” said Rupesh Singh, CEO of Education Center of Australia.
Modi will be the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Australia since Rajiv Gandhi in 1986 and the massive reception planned at the Sydney Park will rival the reception he received at New York’s Madison Square Garden in September.
Over 20,000 people attended the New York event; Sydney expects over 27,000 members of the Australian Indian community. A special train – the Modi Express – will run from Melbourne to Sydney ferrying hundreds of Australian Indian supporters.
The Allphone Arena like Madison square garden is famous for hosting some of the biggest names in entertainment. In the same month as Modi’s visit, The Rolling Stones and Katy Perry will play the arena.
Talking about the event, Rashi Kapoor, the host of PM Modi’s show said tickets were oversold, “the capacity of the event is 15000 people, but 27000 have subscribed to it. So, I think, this will be a very good relationship between Australia and India, and will give big boost to India n businessmen and community.â€
He also said this is the first time Australia can see true leadership and basically a person who understands business.
Indian students studying in Australia are also looking forward to Prime Minister Modi’s visit.
“There are a lot of expectations from Prime Minister Modi. We want India-Australia relations to improve so that young graduates can have the opportunity to grow and do business,” said a student.
Indians living in Australia said they expect Modi to show them the way on how they can contribute to India, and added that they want an assurance from him to remove the image of corruption in Indian business.
Prime Minister Modi is currently in Myanmar as part of his 10-day trip to three nations, the other two being Australia and Fiji.
He met his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on the side-lines of the on-going East Asia Summit 2014 on Thursday. He also interacted with the leaders of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.
Prime Minister Modi will participate in the G-20 Summit on November 15 in Brisbane and on November 17, he will travel to Sydney.
Modi will then travel to Canberra and address the special joint sitting of the Australian Parliament on November 18.