Sydney: The Indian Prime Minister was given a rousing welcome by an approximately 16000-strong Indian Diaspora when he arrived at Olympic Park here on Monday afternoon.
The chant of “Modi-Modi†reverberated inside the Olympic park as soon as he took the centre stage.
“It’s a rush for selfies and autographs at the Allphones arena. PM @narendramodi is at the venue,” PMO’s twitter handle said.
Former Australian speedster Brett Lee was also present to witness Modi’s magical aura. “Welcome ‘Modi ji’,†Brett Lee said.
Lee, who has recently acted in a Bollywood movie ‘UnIndian’ opposite Tannishtha Chatterjee, took to Twitter to express himself. “Was a pleasure to see @narendramodi just then. What a crowd!â€
Emphasising the importance of cricket in the two countries, Modi said both India and Australia can’t live without cricket.
Alongside Lee, former umpire Simon Taufel and former Indian pacer Javagal Srinath was also seen at the Olympic Park.
Australia is home to around 350,000 people who were born in India, according to the latest Australian census data from 2011. That was a 90% increase on the number recorded in the census in 2006.