Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is visiting Australia, gave the rock star a huge welcome in Sydney on Tuesday as he appeared alongside his Australian counterpart at a grand gathering of which he was the star guest.
“The last time I saw anyone on stage here it was Bruce Springsteen and he didn’t get the welcome that Prime Minister Modi has,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement.
One year before the general elections in India, the Indian leader, Narendra Modi, was warmly applauded by the many Indian-Australians who had come to participate in this rally co-hosted by the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese.
During the big crisis, Mr Modi heeded Mr Albanese’s praise by offering a long list of interests, such as cricket, which he said bind the two countries.
“The fundamental basis of our relationship is mutual trust and respect,” Modi stressed.
For the two leaders, the Indian diaspora is an important source of votes and donations to fund their campaigns, according to Ian Hall, professor of international relations at Griffith University in Brisbane.
Australians of Indian descent make up the second largest diaspora in the country.
However, Mr. Albanese’s warm welcome to Mr. Modi has raised questions and criticism, given his Indian counterpart’s human rights record.
Bilal Rauf, a spokesman for the Australian National Council of Imams: “We are very concerned about his visit and the way he was received without raising any of the troublesome issues in his country.”
Since Narendra Modi came to power in the Hindu-majority country of 1.4 billion people in 2014, human rights groups say persecution and hate speech against religious minorities has accelerated.
