Melbourne:Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday thanked his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese for the warm welcome that he received during his visit to Australia and said the bilateral ties between the two countries have improved since he assumed power.
Participating in a mega community event at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium, the prime minister said the ties have improved between due to the Indian diaspora. He said there are now a lot of places in Melbourne which are now called ‘mini India’.
PM Modi recalled that he has visited Australia three times since taking oath in 2014 and this shows how the relationship between India and Australia has reached great heights. “The Indian diaspora is doing active work for development of Australia,” he added.
"This show is houseful," he said, "It is a blockbuster... I had met all of you twice in Sydney before this. I was waiting to meet the people of Melbourne too. So this time I thought I’d have a flat white coffee with the people of Melbourne.”
“Our aim is to make India a developed nation by 2047. India wants to become the world's third-largest economy at the earliest,” the prime minister also reiterated his goal. He also recalled India’s successful feat of reaching the south pole of the moon, and said the country was now working to launch its own space station.
He also said India has become the world’s second largest 5G market and is working on the ‘Made in India’ 6G technology. India has the world's third largest metro network, he said. His government has launched 'Vande Bharat' and 'Namo Bharat' rail services.
Talking about India’s military success against Pakistan in ‘Operation Sindoor’, he said that the Indian Armed Forces destroyed terror launch pads and the whole world saw it. He also said that India wants to do more and the country wants to become completely ‘atmanibhar’ (self-reliant) in defence sector.
“One goal is achieved then comes an even greater resolve,” said PM Modi. “This is an India that believes in ‘Grow More, Achieve More’. We are a country of 1.4 billion people with aspirations.
PM Modi also reiterated that India is among the first responders when it comes to helping a nation during a natural disaster and spoke about how the country helped Venezuela when it was hit by a powerful earthquake earlier this month. He also said that India had extended vacancies and medical aid to over 100 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said India and Australia would also boost their ties in sports, noting that India is set to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games and is also bidding to host the 2036 Olympics.
“The citizen is paramount for us. That is different now, of course, as most work can be done on the basis of self-attestation. “What started from there has now culminated into DigiLocker in India, a digital system where Indians can keep their documents in digital format,” he said.
This feature allows sharing, verification and acceptance of documents with one click. “It is one thing to design a system, but to implement it with scalability and strong security features, is really a big deal,” he added.
The Australian PM also addressed the Melbourne event, turning to Albanese, and praised the ties between New Delhi and Canberra. Albanese said Prime Minister Modi was a “living bridge” between the two nations.
“The energy we see here defines the Australia-India partnership. It is enthusiasm, the dynamism that drives positivity and promise of our two nations and peoples,” he said.
It is an excitement, a vigor that drives the positivity and promise of our two nations and our two peoples. "As Prime Minister, I have had the great privilege of visiting India twice, and each time I have been bowled over by the beauty and vibrancy of the land, and humbled by the generosity and warmth of its people," he added.
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