Indian Expat in Australia Shares Firsthand Experience of PM Modi's Sydney Event

When we meet one of our countrymen abroad, we feel thrilled. What if you get to see the prime minister of your country at close quarters? The feeling is euphoric.

Last night, Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi addressed the Indian diaspora at Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena.

As always, the crowd turned up in great numbers and the NRIs were beaming with pride as PM Modi went ga ga over India's growth story in the recent past. Modi chants rent the air, and patriotic spirit was high.

One of Deccan Chronicle readers, who lives in Australia, shares a first-hand account of the Sydney event. Read on to know more.

It was a great experience. Such an energetic crowd, with 20,000 people turning up. The organizers ensured the event was a smooth flow and managed the big crowd well. There were fantastic performances by many teams representing each state of India, reminding us of our origin, customs and traditions, giving us "Our India feel". Even as we enjoyed all the entertainment programmes all of noon, we waited eagerly to see our beloved prime minister who arrived around 6:30pm. Modi has a huge fan following here and they were obviously over the moon on seeing him in Sydney. Everyone cheered and stood up to show respect as PM Modi walked in. The crowd did not stop cheering as they chants of "Modi Modi" went on for quite some time.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the Indian community programme, in Sydney (PTI)

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese spoke about India-Australia relationship and said how happy he was to have Modi ji here in Sydney and exuded confidence that the India-Australia bond would grow stronger.

Albanese mentioned that he has never seen such a welcome in Sydney before.

As for me. I have watched Modi ji's speech before on TV, listening to him live was a great experience. His speech was impressive, he thanked every Australian delegate that he is working with and met during his visit here. He remembered every name! He displayed strong connection with PM Albanese and assured that the two nations work together on many things, including economic partnership, trade, security and so on, which will further strengthen building India-Australia ties.

Indians here couldn't stop smiling when Mod ji mentioned the restaurants in Harris park that most of us would have visited.

 Gathering at PM Modi's Indian community programme, in Sydney (PTI)

Last but not the least, PM Modi stressed on how India has grown and leading in many areas such as digitalization and emphasised on UPI transactions made life easier for Indians back home. He also touched upon exports, energy management specially solar energy, how India produced COVID vaccine and more. He made us feel proud with examples that displayed the power of India.

For a long time, there was a request to call Harris park suburb as "Little India" and this wish came true yesterday when PM Albanese announced that Harris park is now called "Little India". This is an Indian dominated suburb and this announcement would have made every Indian in Sydney happy.

 Gathering at Indian community programme, in Sydney (PTI)

Overall, it was a fantastic event which brought the Indian community together. Not only from Sydney, but scores of people came from other cities too to see Modi Ji.