Modi thanked his Albanese for renaming Harris Park in Sydney as ‘Little India’….reports Asian Lite News
Visiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced that a new consulate will be opened soon in Brisbane and thanked his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese for renaming Harris Park in Sydney as ‘Little India’.
“Friends, now that I am here with you, I want to make an announcement. The long-standing demand of the Indian community in Brisbane will now be fulfilled by opening up a new Indian consulate soon,” Modi said addressing the 20,000-plus strong Indian community gathered at the Qudos Bank Arena Stadium.
He also thanked his Albanese for renaming Harris Park in Sydney as ‘Little India’. “Thank you my friend Anthony,” Modi told Albanese as the latter made the announcement to declare Harris Park as ‘Little India’ at the community event.
Also Read
“I had the opportunity to welcome the Prime Minister @AlboMP ji on the Indian soil in Ahmedabad. Today he joined me in unveiling the foundation stone of ‘Little India’ here: PM @narendramodi,” Prime Minister Modi tweeted earlier.
Home to many popular Indian eateries and retailers, Harris Park is informally referred to as ‘Little India’ with 45 per cent of its 5,043 residents tracing their roots to India.
The diaspora community in the western Sydney suburb had renewed calls to officially declare their area as ‘Little India’.
The Indian business owners had first proposed officially naming the area Little India in 2015, believing that the title would benefit them.
As per the Australian government’s website, Harris Park has a significant population of Indians and is widely known as an exceptional spot for Indian gastronomy and Indian-run small and mid-sized enterprises.
PM Modi welcomed with Vedic chants
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was greeted at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney Olympic Park with Vedic chanting and other traditional types of welcome as he arrived in the company of Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese to address Indian diaspora at a community event in the Australian city.
After a traditional welcome, PM Modi and Albanese greeted each other with a warm hug and walked into Sydney’s biggest stadium to reverberating cheers.
He was also welcomed in India traditions. Priests were present at the event and chanted prayers.
A cultural program was held at the Qudos Bank Arena. Various cultural performances were performed by various artists, Bharatnatyam, Garba and other dance forms were performed at the event.
Members of the Indian diaspora expressed their excitement at attending the event. Modi is visiting Australia for the first time in nine years. He has last visited the country in 2014.
An attendee Shashi Prabha said, “All of us are excited for PM Modi to arrive. That is the most important thing for us at the moment.”
Earlier, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that a chartered Qantas flight rebranded as “Modi Airways” was in Melbourne to bring fans to Sydney and “Modi Express” buses are being chartered from Queensland.
The plane full of Indians from across Australia arrived this morning in Sydney for the diaspora event
According to ABC, PM Modi will address a rally which is expected to draw a crowd of up to 20,000 people who are hoping to catch a glimpse or listen to him.
Prime Minister Modi had arrived in Sydney on Monday as part of the third and final leg of his three-nation visit after concluding his visit to Papua New Guinea. PM Modi was received by Australian High Commissioner to India Barry O’Farrell and other officials upon his arrival in Sydney.
Earlier today, he met different Sydney-based CEOs and highlighted “transformative reforms and initiatives” taken by his government and India’s credentials as one of the most preferred major economies for foreign investments in the world.
He also met certain prominent figures of the country including artists and those working in science, artificial intelligence, art and music. (ANI)
ALSO READ: PM Modi is The Boss, says Australian PM Anthony Albanese
