PM Modi arrives in Australia; to hold talks with PM Albanese

SYDNEY: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Monday for the third and final leg of his three-nation tour during which he will hold talks with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese and attend a community event to celebrate the country's dynamic, diverse Indian diaspora.

Modi is visiting Australia from May 22-24 as a guest of the Australian Government.

"Landed in Sydney to a warm welcome by the Indian community. Looking forward to various programmes over the next two days," Modi tweeted.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, in a tweet, said Prime Minister Modi arrived in the vibrant city of Sydney on his second visit to Australia.

"Two days of constructive engagements with Australian leadership, business community and diaspora members await," he added.

Ahead of Modi's arrival, Prime Minister Albanese said in a statement, I am honoured to host Prime Minister Modi for an official visit to Australia, after receiving an extremely warm welcome in India earlier this year."

Australia and India share a commitment to a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific. Together we have an important role to play in supporting this vision," he said, amidst China's aggressive behaviour in the region as well as its efforts to expand its influence.

Prime Minister Modi has also said that he was looking forward to his meeting with Albanese on May 24.

During the visit, the Prime Ministers will attend a community event in Sydney to celebrate Australia's dynamic and diverse Indian diaspora, "a core part of our multicultural community", the Australian government said in a statement.

Modi arrived here from Papua New Guinea, where he held talks with his counterpart James Marape and took stock of their bilateral relations. He also discussed ways to further augment cooperation in areas like commerce, technology, healthcare and climate change.

The two leaders co-hosted the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) summit on Monday, fostering regional cooperation.

"My Papua New Guinea visit has been a historic one. I will greatly cherish the affection received among the people of this wonderful nation. I also had the opportunity to interact with respected FIPIC leaders and discuss ways to deepen ties with their respective nations," Modi tweeted.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016 census, 619,164 people in Australia declared that they were of ethnic Indian ancestry. This comprises 2.8 per cent of the Australian population. Among those, 592,000 were born in India. Prime Minister Modi last visited Australia in 2014.

Modi began his three-nation tour on Friday from Japan where he attended three sessions at the G7 summit following an invitation by Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.

Modi along with US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese also attended the 3rd in-person Quad Summit in Hiroshima.

The Quad meeting was moved to the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Hiroshima after US President Biden postponed his trip to Australia to return to Washington, amid ongoing negotiations over raising the US debt limit.