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Australia, India friendship enters 'T20 mode', Modi says

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Rock star welcome for Modi

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) and Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

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Follow our news, recent searches, indian pm modi wraps up australia visit with new agreements on migration, green hydrogen, advertisement.

Observers say the visit reflects both nations’ eagerness to build tighter alliances as they seek to deter China’s growing assertiveness in the region.

narendra modi australia visit

Darrelle Ng

SYDNEY: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrapped up his three-day visit to Australia on Wednesday (May 24), following a rock star reception and new agreements on migration and green hydrogen.

Observers said the visit comes as the two nations seek to forge closer relations in the face of rising tensions in the region.

Mr Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese discussed economic ties and security cooperation, as well as the impact of Russia’s war with Ukraine on developing countries.

The prime ministers announced a new migration agreement that aims to “promote the two-way mobility of students, graduates, academic researchers and business people”.

Analysts said employers coping with labour shortage in Australia and Indian youth seeking opportunities abroad will welcome the deal.

“The two countries are trying to strengthen their trade and investment relations, and further grow their business ties. Hence, easier travel between the two nations is definitely a plus,” University of Mary Washington’s Political Science and International Affairs Professor Surupa Gupta told CNA’s Asia First on Thursday.

The two sides also established a green hydrogen task force to expand collaboration on clean energy, and discussed increasing cooperation on mining and critical minerals.

narendra modi australia visit

They are also working towards a comprehensive economic cooperation deal, for which they hope to complete negotiations by the end of the year. Bilateral trade between India and Australia is expected to double to about US$50 billion by 2035.

Mr Modi also said that he raised the topic of a series of attacks on Hindu temples in Australia, to which Mr Albanese assured strict action would be taken.

The Indian leader’s visit was originally planned for a summit for leaders from the Quad group of nations, which along with Japan and the United States, is seen as an alliance working to counter China’s rising influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

However, talks between the grouping were held on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit last weekend in Tokyo instead, as US President Joe Biden had to return to Washington to deal with a debt ceiling crisis .

narendra modi australia visit

Australian PM backs G7 on 'de-risking' trade with China

narendra modi australia visit

At G7, Japan and Germany want a rethink on the 'Global South'

Modi’s diplomacy blitz.

Mr Modi decided to press on with his Australian trip, visiting the nation for the first time since 2014.

He was given a tremendous welcome by Mr Albanese, who heaped praise on his Indian counterpart and introduced him as a “dear friend” to rapturous applause on Tuesday at a Sydney sporting arena packed to its 20,000 capacity by Australia’s Indian diaspora.

Australia is home to about 750,000 people who claim Indian ancestry, the nation’s fastest growing ethnic minority. 

narendra modi australia visit

Mr Modi has embarked on a flurry of diplomacy activities as he looks to boost his appeal, after losing a state election in Karnataka to the main opposition party last week.

Before Australia , Mr Modi visited Papua New Guinea, where he met 14 Pacific island leaders and pledged his support for the region.

Next month, he will meet President Biden as he travels to Washington for a state visit .

FORGING CLOSER TIES

Observers said Mr Modi’s trip to Sydney, made just two months after Australian PM Albanese visited India , reflects both nations’ eagerness to build tighter alliances as they seek to deter China’s growing assertiveness in the region. 

CNA938's interview with James Schwemlein, nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

“China’s economic coercion towards Australia in recent years, and the clashes along the Indian-Chinese border, are driving these two countries closer together quickly,” said Mr James Schwemlein, a nonresident scholar in the South Asia programme at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Australia has been looking to diversify its export markets, after diplomatic ties with its biggest trading partner China soured in the past few years.

Meanwhile, India is struggling to cut its import dependence with its neighbour on the back of a surging trade deficit.

However, experts said China will likely remain the largest trading partner to both nations, and efforts to significantly reduce economic ties to China continues to be an “aspirational dream”.

“There's no question that India’s potential economically is a strong one – a democratic, fast growing, large country with a highly educated population and yet still relatively low wage labour,” Mr Schwemlein told CNA938’s Asia First.

“Competitively, India is an important way to respond to China. But (replacing China) is not something that is close to occurring today.”

narendra modi australia visit

‘De-risk’ instead of ‘decouple’ from China: What changed at the G7 summit?

narendra modi australia visit

Australia defends Quad's relevance despite Biden's absence | Video

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi cheered by 20,000 fans at Sydney stadium

Indians welcome Modi in Sydney

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, shakes hands with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during an Indian community event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. Modi has arrived in Sydney for his second Australian visit as India's prime minister and told local media he wants closer bilateral defense and security ties as China's influence in the Indo-Pacific region grows. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, shakes hands with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during an Indian community event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. Modi has arrived in Sydney for his second Australian visit as India’s prime minister and told local media he wants closer bilateral defense and security ties as China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region grows. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures as he delivers his speech during an Indian community event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. Modi has arrived in Sydney for his second Australian visit as India’s prime minister and told local media he wants closer bilateral defense and security ties as China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region grows. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stands on the stage as he delivers his speech during an Indian community event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. Modi has arrived in Sydney for his second Australian visit as India’s prime minister and told local media he wants closer bilateral defense and security ties as China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region grows. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, center, shakes hands with New South Wales Premier Chris Mines as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, left, looks on during an Indian community event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. Modi has arrived in Sydney for his second Australian visit as India’s prime minister and told local media he wants closer bilateral defense and security ties as China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region grows. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese unveil a plaque of the foundation of the “Little India” gateway, during an Indian community event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. Modi has arrived in Sydney for his second Australian visit as India’s prime minister and told local media he wants closer bilateral defense and security ties as China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region grows. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, and Australian Prime Minster Anthony Albanese arrive for an Indian community event in Sydney, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. Modi has arrived in Sydney for his second Australian visit as India’s prime minister and told local media he wants closer bilateral defense and security ties as China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region grows. (Wolter Peeters/Pool Photo via AP)

In this image made from video, Indian expats wearing traditional dress walk through Sydney Airport, in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. Hundreds of Indian Australians have arrived on a charter flight from Melbourne to Sydney to attend an community event for visiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Australian Broadcasting Corp. via AP)

In this image made from video, Indian expats wearing traditional dress walk through Sydney Airport, carrying Modi Airways banner, in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. Hundreds of Indian Australians have arrived on a charter flight from Melbourne to Sydney to attend an community event for visiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Australian Broadcasting Corp. via AP)

ADDS NAME OF AUSTRALIAN POLITICIAN AT LEFT - India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, is met by Australian politician Michelle Rowland, left, as he arrives at the Sydney international airport on Monday, May 22, 2023, to begin his three-day visit to Australia. (Dave Gray/Pool Photo via AP)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, is embraced by Australian Prime Minster Anthony Albanese as they arrive for an Indian community event in Sydney, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. Modi has arrived in Sydney for his second Australian visit as India’s prime minister and told local media he wants closer bilateral defense and security ties as China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region grows. (Wolter Peeters/Pool Photo via AP)

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gestures during a speech as he attends an Indian community event with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. Modi has arrived in Sydney for his second Australian visit as India’s prime minister and told local media he wants closer bilateral defense and security ties as China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region grows. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, second right, and Australian Prime Minster Anthony Albanese, right, are welcomed as they arrive for an Indian community event in Sydney, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. Modi has arrived in Sydney for his second Australian visit as India’s prime minister and told local media he wants closer bilateral defense and security ties as China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region grows. (Wolter Peeters/Pool via AP)

SYDNEY (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was welcomed by around 20,000 cheering fans, many chanting “Modi,” at a Sydney stadium on Tuesday during his second visit to Australia as his country’s leader.

Modi shared the stage with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who compared the reception by the primarily Indian crowd at Qudos Bank Arena to a concert by U.S. rock star Bruce Springsteen at the same venue.

“The last time I saw someone on the stage here was Bruce Springsteen and he didn’t get the welcome that Prime Minister Modi has got,” Albanese told the capacity crowd.

“Prime Minister Modi is the Boss,” Albanese added, using Springsteen’s nickname.

Modi told the audience he expected trade between the two countries will double in the next five years.

“Our positive cooperation is growing in areas like climate action, disaster management, strategic technologies, reliable supply chain, education and health security,” Modi said.

“It hasn’t grown through diplomacy. The real strength is the Indians living in Australia,” he added.

A skywriter had earlier emblazoned the sky over Sydney with the message “Welcome Modi” in an indication of the city’s enthusiasm about the 72-year-old Indian leader’s visit.

Indian farmers who have been protesting to demand guaranteed crop prices gather at Ramlila ground in New Delhi, India, Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP Photo)

The Indian diaspora accounts for only 3% of Australia’s population but is the nation’s fastest growing ethnic minority.

Modi is the only leader of the so-called Quad nations to continue with his scheduled visit to Australia after U.S. President Joe Biden pulled out of a planned meeting of the group in Sydney to return to Washington to focus on debt limit talks. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who hosted a Group of Seven summit last week, later canceled his Australia trip as well.

Modi told The Australian newspaper that he wants to take India’s relationship with Australia to the “next level,” including closer defense and security ties to help ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

“As two democracies, India and Australia have shared interests in a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. There is alignment of our strategic viewpoint,” Modi told the newspaper.

“The high degree of mutual trust between us has naturally translated into greater cooperation on defense and security matters. Our navies are participating in joint naval exercises. I am confident that there is merit in working together to realize the true potential in closer defense and security cooperation,” Modi added.

Albanese told Parliament that Australia will host naval exercises involving India, the United States and Japan called Malabar for the first time this year in another sign of a deepening commitment to the Quad.

“India is a key strategic partner,” Albanese told Parliament. “We are both part of a growing and dynamic region and Prime Minister Modi is a very welcome visitor to our shores.”

Albanese said he and Modi expect to complete negotiations on a free trade deal before the end of the year.

“That will create Australian jobs, helping our industries prosper, sparking growth in innovation,” Albanese said.

Negotiations on the deal began in 2011. The Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement would increase the scope of a bilateral trade pact that came into force last December.

India is Australia’s sixth largest trading partner, with the two-way exchange of goods and services valued at 46.5 billion Australian dollars ($31 billion) last year.

Australia is eager to increase trade with India as a means of diversifying from China, Australia’s biggest trading partner. Australian efforts to improve trade relations with India have gained urgency in recent years as Beijing has imposed restrictions on certain Australian products.

Modi last visited Australia in November 2014, just months after his government was first elected.

Australia pulled out of the original Quad security dialogue with India, the United States and Japan in 2008, fearing the grouping would provoke a Chinese military buildup. Since China took that course anyway, the Quad reformed in 2017 and Australia returned to joint Quad military exercises in 2020.

With the Quad summit in Sydney canceled, a substitute Quad meeting was convened on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Japan.

Modi arrived in Sydney on Monday night from Papua New Guinea, where he hosted a meeting with Pacific Island leaders to discuss ways to better cooperate.

Asked if Australia would raise the issue of Muslim and minority rights in India with the Hindu leader, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said he expected Albanese and Modi would have a “full conversation.”

“We have never had a greater strategic alignment with India than we do right now. Both countries are deeply invested in the collective security of the Indo-Pacific region,” Marles said.

Sydney doctor Vani Arjunamani, one of the organizers of a rally near the stadium where Modi appeared, said the Indian leader was drawing bigger crowds than he did when he visited Australia in 2014.

“It’s very interesting, isn’t it? Is there another head of state that can pull this crowd? It is very unusual,” Arjunamani said.

McGuirk contributed from Canberra, Australia.

Associated Press writer Ashok Sharma in New Delhi contributed to this report.

narendra modi australia visit

narendra modi australia visit

The Indian diaspora event in Sydney was not only attended by the Australian PM but also by former PM, MPs from opposition parties, and the ruling party. This is the strength of democracy. All of them together participated in this program of the Indian community: PM Modi

The people here asked me why I gave the vaccines to the world. I want to say that this is the land of Buddha, Gandhi. We care even for our enemies... Today the world wants to know what India is thinking: PM Modi

All Indians have a right on the love and gratitude I received from leaders of Australia, Papua New Guinea and Japan: PM Modi

Received thanks for supplying Covid vaccine to other nations, says PM Modi.

Tamil language is our language. It is the language of every Indian. It is the oldest language in the world. I had the opportunity to release the Tok Pisin translation of the book 'Thirukkural' in Papua New Guinea: PM Modi

I challenge the challenges that come my way, says PM Modi

Recall the day when some leaders in the opposition raised questions over supplying vaccine to other nations: PM Modi

PM Modi begins welcome address at Delhi airport after return from Sydney.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lands at Delhi's Palam airport after concluding his three-nation visit to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia

PM Narendra Modi to arrive at Delhi's Palam airport after concluding his three-nation visit to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia; BJP workers gather outside the airport to welcome PM Modi

PM Modi leaves from Sydney after 3-day tour

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has departed from Australia for India to after a successful 3-day tour.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi being accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Admiralty House, in Sydney, on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi being accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Admiralty House, in Sydney, on Wednesday.

Modi-Albanese talks focussed on 11 bilateral topics

Indian foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra also said that the talks held between the Prime Ministers of India and Australia focussed on 11 bilateral topics.

'PM Modi-Albanese talks based on trade and investment'

Foreign secretary Vijay Mohan Kwatra on Wednesday said that the talks held between PM Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese were based on trade an investment.

PM Modi in Australia: A briefing by foreign secretary Vijay Mohan Kwatra's on PM Modi's Australia visit in under way.

PM Anthony Albanese and I have in the past discussed the issue of attack on temples in Australia and activities of separatist elements. We discussed the matter today also. It is not acceptable to us that anyone hurt the friendly and cordial ties between India and Australia by their actions or ideology. PM Albanese assured me once again today that he will take strict actions against such elements in the future also.

Narendra Modi, PM

PM Modi in Australia Live: In cricketing terminology India, Australia are firmly in T-20 mode: PM Modi on Twitter

PM Modi in Australia Live: In cricketing terminology India, Australia are firmly in T-20 mode: PM Modi on Twitter

The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now.

10 highlights from pm modi's speech in sydney that captivated the audience.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a speech at Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena, addressing the community members. Accompanied by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, PM Modi attended a special event to honor and celebrate the vibrant Indian diaspora in Australia. The visit marks PM Modi's presence in Australia as a guest of the Australian government.

narendra modi australia visit

  • In his address, PM Modi highlighted the various aspects that have been used to define the relationship between India and Australia in the past. "Earlier, it was said that India and Australia relation is defined by 3Cs- Commonwealth, Cricket and Curry. Then it was said that our relationship is defined by 'Democracy, Diaspora and Dosti. Some people also said that our relationship depends on Energy, Economy and Education. But I believe that the relation between India-Australia is beyond this, it is mutual trust and mutual respect," he said.
  • "Our lifestyles may be different but now yoga also connects us. We have been connected due to cricket for long. But now tennis and films are also connecting us. We might prepare food in different manners but Masterchef is connecting us now," he said.
  • The Prime Minister said that despite vastly different lifestyles, both India and Australia have found mutual areas of interest to deepen their significant bond. "Mutual trust and mutual respect have not developed only due to the diplomatic relations of India-Australia. The real reason, the real power is - all of you Indians who live in Australia," he said.
  • In a lighthearted moment, PM Modi mentioned hearing about the deliciousness of Chatkazz's 'Chaat' and 'Jalebi' from Jaipur Sweets in Harris Park. He playfully expressed his desire for everyone to take his friend, Australian PM Albanese, to experience the culinary delights of that place. "I've heard that Chatkazz 'Chaat' and 'Jalebi' from Jaipur Sweets at Harris Park is very delicious. I want you all to take my friend Australian PM Albanese to that place," PM Modi said.
  • PM Modi reassured that India is a shining beacon in the global economy, as affirmed by international organizations. He mentioned that today IMF considers India a bright spot in the global economy. " World Bank believes that if anyone is challenging global headwinds, it is India. Banking system in several countries are in trouble today but on the other hand, the strength of India's banks are being appreciated everywhere," he said.
  • "Our friendship is very deep off the field as well. Last year when Shane Warner died, hundreds of Indians were also mourning. We felt like we have lost someone very close to us," PM Modi added.
  • PM also said that amid the once-in-a-100-years crisis, India made record exports last year. Today, our Forex reserve is scaling new heights. "Example of how India is working for global good lies in our digital stake. You are well aware of India's FinTech revolution," he said.
  • Acknowledging the abundance of talent in India, PM Modi stated that the country possesses abundant capability and resources. India has emerged as the largest and most youthful talent hub in the world.
  • As PM Modi concluded his speech to the Indian diaspora in Sydney, he and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese embraced each other in a warm hug.
  • After the community event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian PM Anthony Albanese graciously interacted with the attendees, who eagerly took selfies with the two leaders.

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Divided Indian diaspora in Australia tops concerns for Narendra Modi visit

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Narendra Modi arrives this week for an official visit to Australia. When he first came to Australia in November 2014, the recently elected Indian prime minister was still to find his feet on the global stage. Keen to show the new government meant business, Modi worked hard to establish a rapport with other leaders at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Brisbane.

But in the limelight, Modi appeared nervous, not least in his speech to the Australian parliament .

Almost nine years on, things are very different. India is the focus of world attention, as the 2023 G20 chair , with an economy growing faster than almost all its competitors.

And Modi, now a veteran of dozens of summits and visits, is far more confident abroad.

Indifference and irritations

In the meantime, the relationship between Australia and India has also changed. Twenty years ago, the two countries had very little to do with one another. China’s insatiable hunger for coal and iron ore was the main focus of Australia’s political and business leaders. New Delhi concerned itself with its own economic development and overcoming longstanding differences with the United States.

Things started to shift in the late 2000s, as both Australia and India grew more concerned about Beijing’s burgeoning power and ambition. In 2007, both countries took part in a meeting of the Quad , a diplomatic dialogue also involving the US and Japan. Two years later, Kevin Rudd went to New Delhi and signed a new security agreement .

A little later, Australia dropped a ban on uranium sales to India, removing a longstanding irritant in the relationship.

These actions cleared the air, but weren’t quite enough to push the two sides to build a partnership. It took the shock of Donald Trump’s election as US president to provide the necessary impetus. The prospect of Trump putting “America First”, and the possibility the US might not act as expected if a crisis occurred, led to a flurry of diplomatic activity by Australia and India and the reconvening of the Quad in late 2017.

Indo-Pacific partners

Since then, the Australia-India relationship has advanced in leaps and bounds, despite the disruptions caused by COVID.

The biggest advances have been made in the areas of defence and security . The two countries now hold annual leaders’ summits and talks between their foreign and defence ministers . The Australian army, air force, navy, and special forces regularly exercise with their Indian counterparts.

The economic relationship has also become stronger, assisted by the growing Indian diaspora and concerted effort by the Australian government. Education has been a particular highlight, with more Indian students flowing to Australian universities and Australian institutions opening campuses in India .

Anthony Albanese, Narendra Modi, Joe Biden and Fumio Kishida walking in a hotel

The conclusion of an interim trade deal just prior to the 2022 election promises to further boost economic ties.

The Quad is opening up other possibilities for cooperation. Since 2017, it has expanded its agenda to cover everything from artificial intelligence and semiconductors, to infrastructure and maritime security.

Closer collaboration in the mining and processing of critical minerals such as lithium, used in batteries, discussed within the Quad , particularly interests both countries.

Deals and the diaspora

These issues and more are on the agenda for Modi’s visit to Australia this week. Boosting economic ties is a key priority. A comprehensive trade and investment deal is the ultimate aim.

Both countries also want to draw on the connections and capabilities of the Indian diaspora in Australia, now almost a million strong, to advance this part of the relationship. The new Centre for Australia-India Relations , based in Sydney, will be central to this effort.

At the same time, Modi is also looking to the diaspora for more political reasons. His Bharatiya Janata Party (“Indian People’s Party”, or BJP) relies on people of Indian origin across the world, especially in the US , for funds, skills, and influence. With a national election looming in 2024, Modi wants to energise and mobilise this crucial constituency to help the BJP to a third consecutive victory.

Read more: Howdy Modi in Houston: why India's Narendra Modi puts so much effort into wooing the diaspora

In Australia, however, the diaspora is divided. Some have long opposed the BJP and criticised its policies, especially concerning India’s 200 million strong Muslim minority .

But lately, a new issue has surfaced in Australia and overseas: a campaign by some Sikh activists for a separate Sikh state, “ Khalistan ”. Unofficial “referendums”, organised to show support for the cause, have been held in Australian cities. Anti-India and anti-Modi slogans have been daubed on Hindu temples .

Only a small proportion of Australian-based Sikhs support the Khalistan movement. But the issue is causing problems for the Modi government and for the relationship between Australia and India.

During Albanese’s recent visit to India, Modi reportedly pressed his counterpart to rein in separatist activism in Australia.

Maintaining the balance

The partnership built between Australia and India is sufficiently robust to manage challenges like the Khalistan movement. And it needs to be.

The security and prosperity of both countries depends on closer cooperation to manage Beijing’s push to reshape our region to serve China’s interests.

Australia and India must work together – and with others across the Indo-Pacific – to maintain the balance of power that allows all countries in the region to determine their own futures.

  • Narendra Modi
  • Donald Trump
  • Indian diaspora
  • Anthony Albanese
  • Quad meeting
  • G7 summit 2023 Japan

narendra modi australia visit

Visiting Professor - 2024-25 Australia-Korea Chair in Australian Studies at Seoul National University

narendra modi australia visit

Senior Research Ethics Officer (Human Ethics Pre-review)

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On PM Modi’s visit to Australia: Delhi to Canberra, a new journey

It is an opportunity to cement a relationship that has seen a dramatic transformation in just about a decade.

narendra modi australia visit

Written by Lisa Singh

narendra modi australia visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s visit to Australia, early next week, despite the cancellation of the Quad Summit meeting in Sydney, is illustrative of the importance that New Delhi accords to the bilateral relationship with Canberra. This is Modi’s second visit to Australia since he assumed office. Few relationships have undergone such a dramatic transformation in just about a decade, and even fewer command greater bipartisan support in Canberra.

When we started the Australia India Institute in Melbourne over a decade ago, we were confronted by 60 years of misperception, lack of trust, neglect, missed opportunities and even hostility. Today, we can say a new chapter in India’s relations with Australia has well and truly begun. This partnership will survive the vicissitudes of international politics as it is built on a near-complete convergence of values and interests. For those in Australia who have roots in India, we see a seamless connectivity between the cultural mosaic of Parramatta in Sydney and Polo View in Srinagar. We are at home in both these culturally vibrant, robustly democratic societies and nations.

It has only been two months since Anthony Albanese’s first visit to India as prime minister . The grand welcome for PM Albanese reflected the respect India has for its relationship with Australia. Arriving in Ahmedabad at the time of the festival of Holi, as well as the last match of the test series between the two countries, the timing couldn’t have been better.

Modi’s last visit to Australia in 2014, not long after he had been elected, saw him address record crowds of people from the Indian diaspora. A repeat of that visit is currently being organised by Sydney’s Indian community. It will no doubt prove to be a big event. During PM Modi’s last visit, the Australia India Institute convened a meeting of the most powerful CEOs in Australia and the Indian Prime Minister was accompanied by the who’s who of corporate India.

Festive offer

But touchpoints for these two leaders are not rare these days with interactions occurring on the sides of multilateral, trilateral or minilateral fora including the G7 (where India is a special invitee), the East Asia Summit, the G20, the Indian Ocean Rim Association, just to name a few. In addition, the Quad is regarded as an important forum to ensure peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. Important regional issues for both nations, such as maritime domain awareness, supply chain resilience, climate change and food and energy security drive the Quad. Despite the cancellation of the formal summit, they will find resonance when the leaders meet in Tokyo.

Australia and India have committed to building secure and resilient supply chains essential to clean energy, electric vehicles, semiconductors, aerospace, and defence — all of which are of strategic importance to Quad members. The recent Memorandum of Understanding signed between India’s Khanij Bidesh Ltd (KABIL) and Australia’s Critical Minerals Office will support these commitments.

Space collaboration — another key area highlighted in last year’s Quad Leaders’ Summit in Tokyo — has also been prioritised in the Australia-India bilateral partnership, with Australia participating as a partner country in the Seventh Bengaluru Space Expo and supporting India’s Gaganyaan Space Programme. The first round of Australia’s India-focused International Space Investment grants programme will foster space collaboration.

Education remains the bedrock of the bilateral relationship and Australia is a popular destination for Indian students. With almost 70,000 Indian students studying in Australia at the end of January 2023 and the second-largest cohort of international students in the country, the issues of student mobility, visa backlogs and future research collaboration will hold centre stage. The recent announcement by PM Albanese of an education agreement for the mutual recognition of qualifications of both countries is the most comprehensive of its kind with any other country.

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The “watershed moment for bilateral relations” that PM Modi described last year when both countries struck a trade deal after two decades of effort can be transformed during the coming meeting into a deepening moment for both nations.

The bilateral meeting is an opportunity for both countries to show how serious they are about reaching their economic potential by setting clear targets to significantly lift the current trading partnership by 2030 above its current base of $35 billion, and a date for achieving a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Trade Agreement. But there is already much for Australia to share to show its friendship, trust and commitment to India. It is about to open a new consulate in India’s tech capital, Bengaluru, and launch a new centre for Australia-India relations in Sydney to strengthen cultural linkages. This suite of initiatives bodes well for Australia which will continue to rely on its partnership with India as a counterweight to the uncertain dynamics the region faces through China’s non-rules-based approach.

In 1955, Prime Minister Robert Menzies decided that Australia should not take part in the Bandung Afro-Asian Conference. By distancing Australia from the “new world”, Menzies (who would later confess that Occidentals did not understand India) alienated Indians, offended Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and left Australia unsure, for decades, about its Asian identity. That past is fortunately over for us, as Canberra and Delhi cement what may well become the most exciting and durable partnership of the 21st century.

Singh, a former Australian senator, is chief executive at the University of Melbourne’s Australia India Institute. Mattoo is a Professor at the School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Honorary Professor at the University of Melbourne, and founding CEO of the Australia India Institute

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India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, speaks at a rally in Srinagar, watched over by his bodyguard.

Narendra Modi visits Kashmir for first time since state’s autonomy stripped

Thousands of police mobilised for Srinagar rally seen as Modi’s campaign event for elections

India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has made his first visit to Kashmir since the government revoked the region’s autonomy in 2019 , claiming the state was finally “breathing freely” despite allegations of systematic repression.

Thousands of police and paramilitary officers were mobilised before Modi’s first rally there for more than five years, held in the state’s largest city, Srinagar.

Speaking to the crowds, Modi proclaimed a new era of peace and development in the region. “It is the new Jammu and Kashmir that we have been waiting decades for,” he said.

Modi’s speech hailed an era of development after his government decided overnight to revoke article 370 in the aftermath of the 2019 elections. The statute had given the Muslim-majority state a unique form of autonomy, including its own constitution and protections over legislation, land and culture for more than 70 years.

The move stripped the region of its statehood and instead split it into two union territories of Jammu and Kashmir under the control of the central government. Tens of thousands of troops were moved into the state and in the following months a fierce crackdown was implemented. The internet was shut down for more than 18 months and all the political leaders in the region were detained.

The move fulfilled a longstanding Hindu-nationalist pledge and was widely welcomed across India , but angered many in the territory itself. A report by Amnesty International found that the government had “drastically intensified repression” in Kashmir after the removal of article 370.

Kashmir, India’s largest Muslim-majority region, has been a source of turbulence for decades. It has long been claimed by both India and Pakistan, and since the 1990s Indian-administered Kashmir has been home to a violent militant insurgency with an allegiance to Pakistan.

The decision to revoke article 370 in 2019 was justified by the Modi government on the basis of security and aligning the region with the rest of India. However, it did not have the backing of most Kashmiris, who saw it as a violation of their rights and freedoms by the Hindu nationalist government.

In the aftermath, new rules were implemented that allowed outsiders to buy land in the state for the first time, which many saw as an attempt by the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) to dispossess them from their land and change the Muslim demography of the region.

There was also a crackdown on freedom of the press in the region, with independent journalists interrogated and in several cases arrested and held under terrorism laws. Human rights defenders were also routinely harassed and detained.

Modi’s visit to Srinagar is being seen as a campaign event for elections in a few weeks’ time , where he will be seeking a third term in power. His party, the BJP, which has never won the Srinagar seat, also hopes to make further political inroads into the Himalayan region in the polls.

The government embarked on a delimitation exercise last year to redraw parliamentary constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, which gave more seats to the Hindu majority areas of the region and was therefore seen to politically benefit the BJP before the 2024 elections.

Kashmir has been without any state political representation since 2018, when the BJP-appointed governor dissolved the state assembly. Political leaders in the region have accused the BJP of a “suspension of democracy” as no state elections have been held for more than a decade.

The supreme court ruled that the state elections must take place by September but no date has been confirmed.

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Narendra Modi Pokhran visit highlights: PM hails Agni-5 missile with MIRV technology

  • 3:46 PM IST, Mar 12 Narendra Modi Pokhran visit LIVE: PM hails successful flight test of Agni-5 missile with MIRV technology
  • 3:36 PM IST, Mar 12 Narendra Modi Pokhran visit LIVE: 'Pokhran has once again witnessed India's self-reliance, self-confidence and self-pride,' says PM
  • 3:18 PM IST, Mar 12 Narendra Modi Pokhran visit LIVE: ‘We saw bravery of our three forces today,’ says PM
  • 3:02 PM IST, Mar 12 Narendra Modi LIVE updates: PM defines 'Bharat Shakti'
  • 2:15 PM IST, Mar 12 Narendra Modi LIVE updates: Prowess of indigenously manufactured defence equipment being showcased
  • 2:07 PM IST, Mar 12 Narendra Modi LIVE updates: Special forces of Army, Navy and Air Force in action during the 'Bharat Shakti' defence exercise
  • 1:43 PM IST, Mar 12 Narendra Modi LIVE updates: All you need to know about 'Bharat Shakti' defence exercise
  • 1:28 PM IST, Mar 12 Narendra Modi LIVE updates: 'A country which does not cherish its heritage loses its future also, says PM
  • 12:41 PM IST, Mar 12 Narendra Modi LIVE updates: What's the master plan for Sabarmati Ashram Project?
  • 11:47 AM IST, Mar 12 Narendra Modi LIVE updates: 'My dream is to make 3 crore women Lakhpati Didi in my third term,' says PM

Narendra Modi Pokhran visit LIVE: 'India is focusing on 'atmanirbharta' in every sector,' says PM

PM Narendra Modi highlights: PM Modi witnessed India's defence capabilities during 'Bharat Shakti' exercise in Rajasthan's Pokhran on Tuesday. The exercise, in line with the Aatmanirbharata initiative, showcased India's defence prowess through realistic multi-domain operations. Earlier in the day, PM Modi launched a slew of projects in Gujarat. He also visited Sabarmati Ashram to unveil the master plan for the Gandhi Ashram Memorial and inaugurated Kochrab Ashram. ...Read More

Indigenous aircrafts such as Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, Light Utility Helicopters, and Advanced Light Helicopters were also showcased.

Narendra Modi Pokhran visit LIVE: Check out these stories

Check out these stories related to PM Narendra Modi's visit to Rajasthan's Pokhran.

PM Modi at Bharat Shakti Tri-Services Live Fire and Manoeuvre Exercise in Pokhran, Rajasthan.

Modi at Pokhran: PM sees homegrown defence prowess at ‘Bharat Shakti’ exercise

India's Homegrown Firepower In All Its Glory

Indian Forces Flaunt 'Bharat Shakti' In Pokhran; PM Modi Witnesses 'Trinity Of Atmanirbharta'

Narendra modi pokhran visit live: pm modi inspects defence equipment during exercise 'bharat shakti'.

Narendra Modi Pokhran visit LIVE:Check out these visuals of PM Modi inspecting defence equipment during exercise 'Bharat Shakti'

Narendra Modi Pokhran visit LIVE: PM hails successful flight test of Agni-5 missile with MIRV technology

During his address at the 'Bharat Shakti' defence excercise in Rajasthan's Pokhran, PM Modi hailed the successful flight test of Agni-5 missile with MIRV technology.

"Yesterday, we conducted the first successful flight test of an indigenously developed Agni-5 missile with MIRV technology. Very few countries in the world have this advanced technology. This is a huge step towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat in the defence sector...," said PM Modi as quoted by news agency ANI.

Narendra Modi Pokhran visit LIVE: 'Pokhran has once again witnessed India's self-reliance, self-confidence and self-pride,' says PM

"Today, our Pokhran has once again witnessed India's self-reliance, self-confidence and self-pride. It is this Pokhran which has been the witness of India's nuclear power and here today we are also seeing its strength through indigenization and empowerment. This celebration of 'Bharat Shakti' is taking place in Rajasthan, the land of bravery, but its echo is not only heard in India but in the whole world...," said PM Modi as quoted by news agency ANI.

Narendra Modi Pokhran visit LIVE: ‘We saw bravery of our three forces today,’ says PM

Narendra Modi Pokhran visit LIVE: While addressing a gathering at the Exercise Bharat Shakti in Rajasthan's Pokhran on Tuesday, PM Modi hailed the bravery of India's Army, Navy and Air Force.

"The scenes we saw today, the bravery of our three forces, is wonderful, this roar in the sky, this battle on the ground, the cry of victory echoes in all directions. This is the call of a new India...," said PM Modi as quoted by news agency ANI.

Narendra Modi LIVE updates: PM defines 'Bharat Shakti'

Narendra Modi LIVE updates: "We are experiencing 'Made in India' in arms & ammunitions, communication equipment, cyber and space. This only is 'Bharat Shakti'. Our pilots are using 'Made in India' Tejas fighter jet and advanced light helicopter, this is 'Bharat Shakti'," said PM Modi.

Narendra Modi LIVE updates: Prowess of indigenously manufactured defence equipment being showcased

Narendra Modi LIVE updates: WLR Swathi, MR BFSR, Dhanush Gun Sys, Sharang Gun System have been brought in action during the 'Bharat Shakti' defence exercise in Pokhran on Tuesday.

Narendra Modi LIVE updates: Special forces of Army, Navy and Air Force in action during the 'Bharat Shakti' defence exercise

Narendra Modi LIVE updates: Indian Army's para commandos, Indian Navy's marine commandos 'Marcos', Indian Air Force's 'Garud' commandos showcase their valour during the 'Bharat Shakti' defence exercise in Pokhran on Tuesday.

Narendra Modi LIVE updates: All you need to know about 'Bharat Shakti' defence exercise

Narendra Modi LIVE updates: Integrated tri-service exercise 'Bharat Shakti' is slated be held at Pokhran in Rajasthan on March 12 and it will showcase the "shock and awe" that the armed forces seek to achieve in an operational situation by employing manoeuvre and fighting capabilities effectively, a top army official said. Dig Deeper

Narendra Modi LIVE updates: 'A country which does not cherish its heritage loses its future also, says PM

Narendra Modi LIVE updates: PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday said a country which does not cherish its heritage has a bleak future. He addressed a gathering after launching ₹ 1,200 crore Gandhi Ashram Memorial masterplan at Sabarmati in Gujarat's Ahmedabad city and inaugurating the redeveloped Kochrab ashram.

"A country which does not cherish its heritage lose its future also. The Sabarmati Ashram is not only a heritage for the country but for the entire mankind," he said as quoted by news agency PTI.

"The Sabarmati Ashram has become a pilgrimage not only our freedom movement but also for 'Viksit Bharat' (developed India)," Modi said.

Narendra Modi LIVE updates: Check out these stories

The release stated that under this master plan, the existing five-acre area of the Ashram will be expanded to 55 acres. 

Modi in Gujarat: PM launches master plan of Gandhi Ashram Memorial in Sabarmati

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Gujarat and Rajasthan on Tuesday.

PM Modi in Sabarmati Ashram, Pokhran today: From train launch to ‘Bharat Shakti’ | Full schedule

Narendra modi live updates: what's the master plan for sabarmati ashram project.

Narendra Modi LIVE updates: Under the master plan, the existing five-acre area of the Ashram will be expanded to 55 acres. 36 existing buildings shall undergo restoration, out of which, 20 buildings including 'Hriday Kunj', which served as Gandhi's residence, will be conserved, 13 will undergo restoration, and 3 will be reproduced, reported news agency ANI.

The masterplan includes new buildings to house administration facilities, visitor facilities like an orientation centre, interactive workshops on charkha spinning, handmade paper, cotton weaving and leatherwork and public utilities. The buildings will house interactive exhibits and activities to showcase aspects of Gandhiji's life as well as the legacy of the Ashram.

Narendra Modi LIVE updates: PM calls for competition to find 'best guide' for Sabarmati Ashram

Narendra Modi LIVE updates: "People should come forward as guides and there should be a competition. There should be a competition among children to know who can work as the ‘best guide’. In Sabarmati Ashram, who can provide service as the best guide?. A competition will ensure that all children come to know about the construction date of the Ashram, what it is, it's role," said PM Modi.

Narendra Modi LIVE updates: 'My dream is to make 3 crore women Lakhpati Didi in my third term,' says PM

"Women are playing significant role in village economy. More than 1 crore women working in Self-Help Groups have become Lakhpati Didi. And my dream is to make 3 crore women Lakhpati Didi in my third term," said PM Modi

Narendra Modi LIVE updates: PM compares 'vocal for local' to Gandhiji's Swadeshi idea

Narendra Modi LIVE updates: "We discuss vocal for local. Originally, it is nothing but the Swadeshi idea propagated by Gandhiji. It has the idea of Atmanirbhar Bharat envisioned by Gandhiji," said PM Modi.

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: PM remembers the contribution of Mahatma Gandhi

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: "Future generations coming here will be able to understand how the saint of Sabarmati(Mahatma Gandhi) had revolutionised the nation with the might of the Charkha," said PM Modi.

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: Bapu's ideals illuminate our path, says PM

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: Bapu's ideals illuminate our path. The unveiling of the revamped Kochrab Ashram and the introduction of the Gandhi Ashram Memorial Master Plan will advance his vision, serving as a lasting inspiration for generations of Indians to come.

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: PM inaugurates redeveloped Kochrab Ashram

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: PM Modi inaugurated the redeveloped Kochrab Ashram, the first ashram established by Mahatma Gandhi upon his return to India from South Africa in 1915.

The ashram, now preserved as a memorial and tourist destination, is under the care of Gujarat Vidyapeeth.

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: PM launches Sabarmati Ashram redevelopment project

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: Narendra Modi LIVE: PM Narendra Modi marks "Ashram Bhoomi Vandana" at the 'Mahatma Gandhi Sabarmati Ashram Reconstruction Project' in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: Why March 12 holds significance in India's struggle for independence?

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: On March 12, the historic Dandi March took place, marking a significant moment in colonial India's struggle for independence. The Dandi March, led by Mahatma Gandhi, was a powerful demonstration of non-violent civil disobedience.

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: PM visits Sabarmati Ashram

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: On the commemoration of Dandi March Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to launch the "Ashram Bhoomi Vandana" at the 'Mahatma Gandhi Sabarmati Ashram Reconstruction Project' in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: Development work not for winning elections, says PM

“Unlike some others, development work for us is not for winning elections but for the progress of the nation,” says PM Modi.

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: PM hails foundation of ₹11 lakh crore projects

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: “In just over two months of 2024, we have inaugurated and laid the foundation of ₹ 11 lakh crore projects,” says PM Modi.

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: PM on why he discontinued separate railway budget

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: “I discontinued separate railway budget and included it in Union budget so that government money can be used for railway development,” says PM Modi.

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: PM flags off new Vande Bharat trains

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates:

PM Modi launches ten new Vande Bharat trains:

• Ahmedabad-Mumbai Central

• Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam

• Mysuru-Dr MGR Central (Chennai)

• Patna-Lucknow

• New Jalpaiguri-Patna

• Puri-Visakhapatnam

• Lucknow-Dehradun

• Kalaburagi-Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal Bengaluru

• Ranchi-Varanasi

• Khajuraho-Delhi (Nizamuddin)

Extension of Vande Bharat trains:

• Ahmedabad-Jamnagar extended till Dwarka

• Ajmer-Delhi Sarai Rohilla extended till Chandigarh

• Gorakhpur-Lucknow extended till Prayagraj

• Thiruvananthapuram-Kasargod extended till Mangaluru.

Read in detail: PM Modi to launch new Vande Bharat trains

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: PM reaches Ahmedabad

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached DFC's Operation Control Centre in Ahmedabad to lay the foundation stone and dedicate a slew of railway and Petrochemicals projects worth over ₹ 1,06,000 crores.

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: PM says Pokhran has an emotional attachment with every Indian

Ahead of the Pokran visit, PM Modi posts on X: “I look forward to being in Pokhran later today. This place has an emotional attachment with every Indian. In Pokhran, I will have the opportunity to witness a demonstration of indigenous defence capabilities in a Tri-Services Live Fire and Manoeuvre Exercise. I am glad that this programme will feature weapon systems and more which are vital in the quest to make India self-reliant in defence.”

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: Check revamped Kochrab Ashram pictures

Narendra modi live updates: pm modi to shortly be in ahmedabad.

Ahead of the Ahmedabad visit, PM Modi posts on X: “In a short while from now, at around 9:15am, I will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones for several projects covering sectors like railways and petrochemicals. Vande Bharat trains and freight trains will also be flagged off. Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras across different parts will be dedicated to the nation as well.”

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: PM To launch several railway projects from Ahmedabad

• Foundation stone laying for various railway projects:

Railway Workshops

Pit lines/Coaching Depots

Phaltan-Baramati New line

Electric Traction System upgradation work

• Launch of two new sections of Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC):

New Khurja to Sahnewal (401 Rkm) section of Eastern DFC

New Makarpura to New Gholvad section (244 Rkm) of Western DFC

• Inauguration of Western DFC's Operation Control Center (OCC) in Ahmedabad.

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: Which Vande Bharat trains will PM launch today?

PM Modi to launch ten new Vande Bharat trains:

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: PM to launch several railway projects today

Narendra Modi LIVE Updates: Prime Minister will visit DFC’s Operation Control Centre in Ahmedabad to lay the foundation stone of various railway projects valued at over Rs. 85,000 crores.

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Kashmir has been transformed, Indian PM says on first visit in five years

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Supporters of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) carry a hoarding of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah for celebrations in Ahmedabad

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Modi makes rare pre-election Kashmir trip, but struggles to ‘win hearts’

The Indian leader’s development pitch for the disputed region leaves Kashmiris asking when political grievances will be addressed.

India Kashmir Modi

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir –  In his first speech in the main city of Indian-administered Kashmir since scrapping its semi-autonomous status in 2019, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed the move had brought development and prosperity to the region’s residents.

“I am working hard to win your hearts,” Modi told a rally on Thursday in Srinagar, where he announced a slew of developmental projects worth $777m, which he said will boost the agro-economy and tourism in the disputed region.

Keep reading

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“Today, there is no Article 370, hence the talent of the youth of Jammu and Kashmir is being fully respected and they are getting new opportunities. Today there are equal rights and equal opportunities for everyone here,” he said, referring to the constitutional provision that granted a special status to the Muslim-majority region, also claimed by neighbouring Pakistan.

“The country is seeing these smiling faces of yours … [and] feeling relieved to see you all happy,” he said, concluding his 27-minute address by wishing people well during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that begins next week.

India Kashmir Modi

But independent analysts and many Kashmiris said they were left disappointed by the PM’s speech, which many had anticipated might have offered more substantive political messaging aimed at reaching out to a region that New Delhi and Modi’s party have long had a tense relationship with.

The 2019 break

For decades, the abrogation of Article 370 was a core agenda of Modi’s Hindu majoritarian Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in order to “fully integrate” the region with the rest of India. The article allowed the region to have its own laws and barred outsiders from buying land or getting local jobs.

But Modi’s government split the former state into two territories – Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir – and brought them under New Delhi’s direct rule. To curb street protests against the action, the government launched a security crackdown and curtailed civil liberties and press freedom.

In defence of its controversial move, the government said New Delhi’s direct rule would bring progress to Kashmir and eradicate the armed rebellion against New Delhi’s rule that began in 1989. Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflict since, turning the Himalayan territory into one of the most militarised regions in the world.

But the BJP’s move was opposed by Kashmiris, who feared the government was trying to change the region’s demography by allowing people from other parts of India to settle or invest there.

“This is the new Jammu and Kashmir which we had been waiting for decades,” Modi said in remarks made ahead of the national election in April and May in which he is seeking a third straight term.

India Kashmir Modi

‘Disappointed the audience’

Residents, however, said they had low expectations for the prime minister’s visit – and that their grievances were not addressed in his speech.

“The highest expectation was the restoration of the statehood. The second could have been the restoration of democracy since the central rule has been far too long. People don’t have a voice here,” said a 33-year-old Kashmiri who did not want to reveal his identity over fears of reprisal by the authorities.

Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir has not had regional elections since 2014. The government formed then was dissolved by the BJP’s central government in 2018.

In December 2023, the Supreme Court, while upholding the scrapping of the special status, said state elections must be held by September this year. But on Thursday, Modi did not give any assurances about holding the vote in his speech.

“Two things people wanted to hear was the dates of elections and statehood,” New Delhi-based academic Radha Kumar, who has worked extensively on the Kashmir conflict, told Al Jazeera.

“On both those points, PM Modi disappointed the audience,” she said. “One would expect he would give reassurance that the elections would be held by the deadline. Surprisingly, there was no reference.”

But Zameer Ahmad, a BJP member from Kashmir’s Kupwara district, defended Modi’s visit, saying it gave the residents a chance to talk about their issues. “We have a future with the BJP because they will win elections. I think the PM will listen to us and solve our problems,” he said.

Government employees mobilised as crowd

Modi’s BJP is not a key player in Indian-administered Kashmir. Multiple government employees, including teachers, said their departments and offices had effectively ordered them — around 20,000 people in all — to attend Modi’s rally. Many schools in the region were closed for the day.

“We hardly got any sleep and left home at 4am. It was a job compulsion,” Ahmad, a 45-year-old employee from Anantnag district, 50km (31 miles) from Srinagar, told Al Jazeera, outside the football stadium in the city where the event was held.

A female teacher from southern Kashmir said she felt no excitement for the event. “I can’t say anything. We were directed by the administration to come.”

Mehbooba Mufti, the last elected chief minister of the region, criticised the government for mobilising its employees for the rally.

“This visit is only meant to address and drum support amongst the BJP’s core constituency in the rest of India for the upcoming parliament elections,” she posted on X.

Narendra Modi is asking India to extend his term as one of the most powerful people in the world. This is his secret past

Narendra Modi looks directly into camera while wearing rimless glasses and a beige stole

Narendra Modi is one of the most powerful people in the world, but much of his life is shrouded in mystery. These hidden chapters tell the true story. 

The Modi family gathered on the lawn of the fanciest hotel in their hometown in the Indian state of Gujarat for their nephew's engagement.

It was October 2023. The trees were lit up with multi-coloured lights, buffet tables were spread out across the garden while men in kurtas and women in saris chatted and ate.

But there was a key person missing from this family event: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Being the leader of the world's most populous country is a busy job, but Indian weddings are a major family affair — even the most elite members of society usually make time to attend a relative's nuptials. So, Modi's absence was remarkable.

It wasn't that Modi avoids weddings altogether. A few years earlier, he attended the wedding of Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra and musician Nick Jonas.

"Wishing you a happy married life," he wrote in the caption of a snap with the couple shared with millions of Instagram followers.

Typically, the weddings of India's elite are lavish on a level unheard of in the West.

Beyonce and Rihanna performed at the pre-wedding celebrations for the children of Mukesh Ambani — India's richest man and a personal friend of Modi's.

But as his own family was celebrating his nephew's engagement at an understated party with a modest guest list, Modi was prepping for a major media moment: his appearance at the Cricket World Cup final in a stadium named after him.

With hundreds of millions of Indians watching, many analysts believed Modi was banking on an Indian win to catapult his election campaign. This may partially explain his absence from the significant family event.

Since Modi unexpectedly left home as a teenager, he's had a patchy relationship with everyone in his family except his mother, who died in 2022.

Despite his relative family estrangement, Modi constantly talks about his humble beginnings.

He has a tight leash on his image, and is cautious not to derail every carefully crafted story that's brought him to the top.

"There's this almost mystical aspect to Modi and the folklore can extend to his childhood," Indian journalist Manisha Pande says.

Narendra Modi is one of the most powerful people in the world, but besides what he chooses to share about his background, the public knows little about him.

Narendra Modi, seen through a car window, brings his hands together in prayer

Under his leadership, India has undergone massive change.

Modi has made his country a powerful geopolitical player lauded by the West, and brought India closer to Australia than ever before.

He's instilled a sense of empowerment in ordinary Indians, giving tens of millions of people homes and toilets — welfare policies that have boosted his approval rating to become one of the most popular leaders in the world.

His nationalist stance has led to policies which favour India's Hindu majority, while democratic pillars such as press freedom and free speech have been threatened, undermined and eroded.

He's become so popular, it's likely he'll win a national election this year, giving him a rare third term and a total of 15 years in power at its conclusion.

There are many myths and legends about Modi's life that have built his appeal. He says he worked for his dad as a chai seller and walked across the country trying to become a monk.

And there are parts of his life he's tried to keep a secret, like the arranged marriage he abandoned as a teenager.

The stories Modi has told about his life have led to his extraordinary rise in the world, but deciphering what's fact from fiction is essential to understanding where he's taking India.

The chai wallah's son

Everyone in the town of Vadnagar seems to have the same last name: Modi.

Most are not related to the prime minister even though they live in his hometown. But Syamaldas Madhavas Modi sees India's leader as a brother.

An older man with red marking on his forehead looks directly into camera

When Syamaldas's mother died when he was young, he moved in with Narendra Modi, his parents and five siblings.

"We used to fly kites and play games in the village. Narendra Modi was very smart," he says fondly.

"We did not have any facilities at home. We used to go outside to go to the toilet … It was hard to get water, so we'd go to the lake to take a bath."

Modi's childhood home is nestled along a narrow concrete lane, where the houses painted in pastel colours are built in a tight terrace formation.

The single-storey, long, narrow house has a large wooden door and is on the edge of Vadnagar, a quaint town built around a lake.

Modi's father, Damordas, was what's known as a chai wallah, or a tea seller, at the local train station.

Chai is a part of the daily hustle for many Indians, and the country has the largest train network in the world.

The Vadnagar station hasn't changed much. Families walk past the pink pillars at its entrance and gather on the station's wide platforms to set off for their big journeys.

Modi consistently references working with his dad at the railway stall.

"I was born in a very poor family. I used to sell tea in a railway coach as a child. My mother used to wash utensils and do lowly household work in the houses of others to earn a livelihood," he said in a 2015 interview with Time Magazine.

"I have seen poverty very closely. I have lived in poverty. As a child, my entire childhood was steeped in poverty."

A train parked by an almost empty platform, with three people talking

To understand why Modi's story of being a chai wallah's son has resonated with India's 1.4 billion voters, it's important to understand the country's political history.

Since independence, India had been largely ruled by one family — the first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his descendants. He and his daughter Indira Gandhi, who went on to follow in his footsteps, were rich, English-speaking, university graduates.

Narendra Modi stands apart, connecting on a more relatable level with the everyday Indian, according to Modi biographer and veteran political observer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.

"The fact that he came from a very poor family, all that has been actually dwelled upon at great length. It's also been publicised greatly by Mr Modi because it conveys the sense that he was an outsider, not part of the Indian elite," he says.

"But his father had enough money to ensure that Mr Modi and his brothers went to school. Going to school [meant] he was not working anywhere else."

Mukhopadhyay says that these stories and images of Modi carrying tea to train passengers have been "grossly exaggerated, primarily because it was a nice idea to sell" to the Indian public.

Some locals in Vadnagar dispute how often Modi worked for his father growing up.

In a video that went viral in 2021, Modi's brother Prahlad said Narendra Modi had been hyping up his upbringing as a lone tea seller.

"Narendra did not sell tea alone — we are five brothers and we all sold the tea. So, Narendra should be called a son of a tea vendor, not a tea vendor. This is the mistake of journalists," he said.

While the chai wallah story is questioned, everyone seems to agree on Modi's willpower, ambition, and even stubbornness — all qualities that pushed him to the top.

A black and white portrait shows a class of cadets, from young boys to teenagers and some men.

Syamaldas remembers how Modi would stand up and "dominate" their teachers in front of the class.

"He has always been the same kind of person. If he wants to do something, then he'll definitely do it. He wouldn't be influenced by anyone once he's made up his mind," he says.

"Even today, he can't be influenced."

The child politician

One day after school in the 1960s, Modi and his friend Chandubhai Chimanlal Rami were playing a game called vetra charm, fighting with sticks.

"I remember that game with Modi even today … the game could rip your skin, even make your hands bleed," Chandubhai says.

They were playing at their local branch of a Hindu right-wing organisation known as the RSS, whose volunteers recruited Modi when he was eight years old.

Chandubhai recalls a moment in the game when he made a mistake and it hurt Modi.

"So, he also started making attacks in the incorrect way and it was hurting me too," he says.

Chandubhai saw it as a painful but necessary lesson.

"He did it so I realised I was making a mistake. It also helped me better prepare and boosted my willpower, encouraged me a lot."

An older man in pale pink shirt with pen in pocket looks just beyond camera while a woman sits behinid

With an estimated 6 million members across 68,000 branches known as shakhas, the RSS is believed to be the largest far-right organisation in the world.

Like many ideological organisations, the RSS recruits children to expand its supporter base, says Christophe Jaffrelot, a prominent academic from French university Sciences Po, who is studying the Hindu right.

"You can build or reshape their psyche," he says.

"In the branches of the RSS, young boys are attracted by games … they don't realise and the families don't realise — in the beginning at least — that the content of the ideology is infused via these games and via the atmosphere in the shakha. It's a good way to become a mass movement, without saying it."

A man handles a pole with an orange flag, it has a split in the middle

After months of requests, the ABC gained rare access to an RSS branch that runs similarly to how Modi experienced one as a child decades ago.

In the harsh winter, as the sun rises, around a dozen young men hoist a saffron flag, the colour associated with the Hindu religion.

For many RSS volunteers, the focus on Hinduism is a drawcard.

"I joined the RSS because I have an interest in Hinduism ideology," one RSS member, Ambika, says. "So that keeps me satisfied that I'm doing something for my society and for the nation."

At this shakha, members practise group exercises, many of which involve martial arts. They chant Hindu nationalist slogans that encourage patriotism such as "long live Mother India" and "worship your motherland".

Five men stand with arms by their sides in two rows

Despite the fervent exercises, there's a jovial atmosphere.

"We are Hindu, we are part of this land, we are living here for thousands of years, so, the knowledge [and] tradition which our ancestors developed, it all belongs to us," senior RSS member Rajneesh says.

When asked about people of other religions he says: "We welcome all religions that came to India."

Rajneesh disputes the suggestion the RSS uses games as a way to indoctrinate its young followers, saying the exercises encourage discipline and unity.

"If you have to work for society, you have to be physically fit. If you're physically ill, how can you work for society?" he says.

The focus on physical strength has led many researchers to argue the RSS is a paramilitary organisation, something its members deny.

But in 2018, RSS chief Mohan Bhawat said the organisation could prepare an army to fight for India "within three days".

The RSS has been central to Modi's political rise. He describes it as a "socio-cultural organisation working towards the social and cultural regeneration of India".

It's a description that skirts around the clear and direct goals of the RSS put in place by its founders almost 100 years ago: to make India an emphatically Hindu society.

India is secular in its constitution and, while the vast majority of the country is Hindu, more than 200 million people are Muslim and tens of millions follow other faiths including Sikhism and Christianity.

While the members at the meeting were careful in their language, the RSS founders have been more direct.

"The non-Hindu people of [India] must adopt Hindu culture and languages and respect. They must entertain no idea but those of glorification of the Hindu race and culture," RSS founder M S Golwalkar said.

Hindu right researcher Mr Jaffrelot says that "in terms of ideology, there are affinities between the RSS and the Nazi Germany brand of nationalism, the Mussolinian brand of fascism".

RSS members have been known to resort to violence in the name of their ideology.

One of its members assassinated Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi in 1948. Decades later, a government-appointed commission found the RSS was responsible for creating a climate conducive to a riot in Jamshedpur that killed 79 Muslims and 25 Hindus. As recently as 2018, RSS members were involved in violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims in Bihar. 

But the RSS consistently rejects that it sparks religious riots and directs attention to the organisation's efforts to coordinate relief after several natural disasters.

The organisation was praised for delivering oxygen cylinders and medicine to thousands of Indians in hospitals during the country’s debilitating COVID-19 crisis, while helping families cremate their loved ones.

Narendra Modi as a young man stands at a microphone, extending a hand out while speaking to a crowd

Through the 1970s and 80s, Modi rose through the RSS ranks, becoming one of its key organisers.

As prime minister, Modi hasn't actively condoned or condemned violence attributed to RSS members, but his government has enacted laws that critics say have persecuted religious minorities.

Those include revoking the autonomy of India's only majority-Muslim area, Kashmir; passing a law that only permits non-Muslim migrants from nearby countries to be granted citizenship; and opening a Hindu temple where an ancient mosque was torn down , saying it was the birthplace of an important god.

"Modi's politics is based on the RSS agenda, the ideology is the same," Mr Jaffrelot says.

"Muslims have been pushed as second-class citizens by the Modi government with the help of vigilante groups. That's something that the RSS wouldn't have achieved without a leader like him."

While Modi has faced criticism for some of these policies, he's still enormously popular, and research shows he consistently appeals to voters.

The prime minister has defended his government's record, arguing it has brought normalcy to restive Kashmir, for example. 

"If there is a smell of discrimination in anything I have done, then put me in front of the country," Modi said in 2019, while defending the citizenship law.

The RSS maintains it is solely a cultural organisation and doesn't back politicians.

A man wearing black sports jacket sits on a step, smiling in the sun

But like Modi, senior RSS members often transition to the prime minister's political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). 

In 1951, RSS members created a political arm which eventually merged with other parties to create the BJP.

"RSS is not a political organisation, we believe only in making men. But Narendra Modi is doing a good job," Rajneesh says at the shakha.

"As a citizen, I think those who wish that India should lead, they should support Narendra Modi. So as a citizen, it's my right to vote so I will vote for him."

The secret wife

In the late 1960s, everyone in Narendra Modi's friendship group was being married off by their families.

"So his family got him married, worried that later it would be hard to find a bride," Syamaldas, the man who grew up with the Modi family, says.

Modi, about 18 at the time, sat with his bride Jashodaben and their families in the house for a traditional, religious wedding ceremony.

India's caste system is a complex hierarchy of different groups stemming from their social and economic past.

Jashodaben and Narendra Modi's families came from the same caste, the Gujarati Ghanchis, traditionally vegetable oil producers described as lower-middle class.

As per the Ghanchi caste's traditions, the couple had gone through a ceremony called Shaadi when they were about 12 years old, which meant they were engaged, to be married when they came of age.

But they were initially promised to each other by their parents when they were toddlers, something Modi wasn't told about until later.

While marriage is becoming less conservative in India, at that time most people in Gujarat strictly married within the same caste.

After the marriage, the woman was usually sent to the husband's family home.

The facade of a two-storey concrete home with wooden door, a stair case leading to

In recent years, surveys of Indian households have found the majority of Indians are in arranged marriages, most of them happy.

But Narendra Modi had different feelings about the institution in the 1960s.

"He was completely opposed to marriage," Syamaldas says.

So before the couple could move in together, Modi decided to leave home.

"The family was in a state of mourning, but his mother stood behind him and wanted him to progress. The rest of his family felt really bad," Syamaldas says.

"During that time, he told his wife that this is her house as well and … she is free to live in the house and then he left home."

Until the early 2000s, few people knew about Modi's wife.

As Modi rose through the RSS ranks, he proved his dedication to the association and its cause by showing he had no family ties.

When he started running for elections, first in his home state of Gujarat, he would leave the spouse section blank on forms year after year.

In campaign speeches, he would say he was single.

"Why would I indulge in corruption? For whom? There is no one behind me or in front of me," he said at a 2014 political rally, using a Hindi phrase meaning he has no family.

Narendra Modi, wearing a blue checked waistcoat, smiles while holding a baby on his lap at a desk

While Modi has staked his reputation on putting the public before a family, he takes every opportunity to portray his connection with children.

For some Indian leaders, being single is a selling point. It means they can show their only commitment is to their country.

Mahatma Gandhi took a vow of celibacy, and the current leader of the main opposition, Rahul Gandhi, is also proudly single.

"I'm dedicated to the people of this nation … every moment of my time is for the people of India," Modi said in a speech last year.

It's a popular trope in a society that emphasises devotion, service and duty.

Eventually, journalists started searching for a schoolteacher they heard was secretly married to Modi.

When one reporter eventually found her, she was shocked by how humble Jashodaben's life was.

A woman wearing a red and orange sari holds a tray of food and feeds a cow by hand. She stands infront of a brick wall.

"With her hair tied up in a bun, you could pass her by because she's just like any other woman in any village," says the journalist, who does not want to be named.

"Her house had a tin roof and mud walls, and it was a house that would get very hot in the summers, and she did not have a bathroom."

When news reports about Modi's arranged marriage emerged, he directed focus away from them.

But during his run for prime minister in 2014, he was legally forced to go public about his marriage for the first time in almost 50 years.

In the spouse section of his election nomination, he had to write his wife's name: Jashodaben Modi.

"So it was kind of a victory for us and for her that her name had to be written in that column," the journalist says.

A scanned document shows two pages, including stamps and a photograph of Narendra Modi and a table including his wife's name

It turned into a national scandal. Narendra Modi's brother Sombhai (whose son's engagement the prime minister would go on to miss a decade later) defended him.

He said the marriage was a formality and the couple never consummated it, something Jashodaben Modi also confirmed.

"Narendra's whole life is a life of sacrifice, and we have to accept it. The whole country knows his sacrifice, and the people of the nation know it," he said.

"This event of 40 or 50 years back of a poor family in those circumstances should be seen in that context."

Despite some backlash from opposition parties over his secret marriage and estranged wife, Modi won the 2014 election in a landslide.

Soon after, Jashodaben Modi told Reuters she was surrounded by armed bodyguards every day and she had to cook for them. She has not spoken publicly since.

Now 72, Jashodaben Modi has retired from her job as a schoolteacher.

A woman wearing a yellow sari decoratid with flowers sits on a bench in a small room filled with items.

The Gujarat village where she grew up is made up of a few small streets clustered around a brown, stone, Hindu temple in the middle.

Usually, in small Indian villages, locals are open to giving directions to someone's house, but here they're reluctant.

Some say she's moved to the nearby town. Several people refuse to offer any information on her whereabouts, but one woman finally acknowledges having met her: "She was a nice woman and was helping out at the local hospital."

Jashodaben now lives with her brother. After eventually tracking down his phone number, we give him a call.

He answers but wants to know what we would ask his sister in an interview. She seems to be in the background, listening in on our conversation, but tells him she doesn't want to meet or speak with any journalists.

After her identity was confirmed by Modi, Jashodaben tried to start speaking at public events. She even told a journalist that if the prime minister called to check in, she'd be interested in starting a new life with him.

When it was announced that she would be speaking at an event run by a Modi fan club, the conference was shut down.

When she tried to get a passport, her application was rejected because she couldn't produce a marriage certificate.

"Modi has chosen to cut off that part of his life from public consumption, from public view and he has never, ever acknowledged her other than in that election affidavit," the anonymous journalist says.

"I feel that there's an abandoned woman, and she needs her justice."

Modi's monkhood

In his public life, with no family ties and a sole commitment to his country, Modi has presented himself as God's representative on Earth.

"God has made me an instrument to represent all the people of India. This is a huge responsibility," he said on X, formerly known as Twitter, ahead of a Hindu temple opening in the town of Ayodhya in January.

That narrative harks back to a relatively opaque part of his life story — the years after he left his arranged marriage as a teenager.

Modi says he left for the Himalayas and pursued a monk-like life of renunciation. He had no material possessions and ate only food given to him by strangers.

A young Narendra Modi sits on a door step, smiling while extending a hand out

"There was no comfort in my life. I had a small bag and my whole life was in that bag," he told biographer Andy Marino.

He says he studied the teachings of one of India's most iconic Hindu spiritual leaders, Swami Vivekananda, and went to his ashrams seeking to become a monk.

The story goes that after being turned away twice, at the third ashram a monk told Modi that his destiny lay elsewhere. That's what set him on his path of politics.

"He was advised by the great monk who was there at the time he could reach out to larger masses, so his reach is huge," Swami Shantatmananda, a current monk at one of the Vivekananda ashrams, says.

"He has brought in immeasurable changes, a revolution awakening in the country."

But not everyone is convinced.

"There's just not a lot of contemporary evidence that would suggest that we know exactly what was going on," says Griffith University professor Ian Hall, one of Australia's leading experts on India.

"I don't expect the monastery kept records of that kind of interaction either, so what we're left with is a story that is presented later on by the sympathetic biographers."

Swami Vivekananda introduced Hinduism and yoga to the West in the 1800s.

A monk wearing red robes and orange head covering folds his arms across his chest

He attained enormous influence in India and around the world, in part because of his teachings that anyone of any religion can find God using Hindu philosophy.

The swami, his influence and his teachings have informed Narendra Modi's curated public image since those teenage years. In 2012, he tweeted a quote from the monk every day for a year.

Professor Hall says an affinity with Swami Vivekananda helps Modi attract moderate Indian voters who may be concerned by his connections with the far-right RSS.

"He's setting up an alternative … softer, friendlier, broader kind of figure [with Swami Vivekananda] as his guru and his intellectual inspiration," he says.

"Modi here is reaching for a figure that allows him to then reassure those who are concerned that he's going to be a real hardliner."

The Modi image

Part of the genius of the Modi narrative has been his ability to be many things to many people.

"I've gone backwards and forwards from thinking that Modi was a very hardline Hindu nationalist to thinking that he was somebody who was more of a moderniser," Professor Hall says.

"The reality is that Modi is able to present himself in all of those different avatars at once or to different audiences."

Narendra Modi pictured against a pale blue sky, squinting through his glasses

Modi has been described as a mastermind of image management.

He has managed to escape reputational stain despite the various accusations against him, from targeting religious minorities to democratic backsliding.

He's also widely promoted his successes in developing India and bringing the country to the world stage.

Before the digital age, Modi would personally fax press releases to lists of journalists to ensure his words and deeds attracted fast distribution and positive coverage.

He now runs a slick social media operation in which he controls his own story — he has the largest following of any leader in the world.

But his critics say measures introduced under Modi's leadership have severely undermined press freedoms.

Last year, the Modi government banned a BBC documentary that was critical of the prime minister's role in deadly religious riots that broke out in 2002. Tax authorities searched the broadcaster's bureaus in India the week after the program went to air.

Reporters Without Borders has warned "press freedom is in crisis" in India , noting in its most recent report that an average of three or four journalists are killed in connection with their work in the country every year.

Modi's office has not responded to numerous requests for an interview with the ABC.

"[We've] had a prime minister who's refused to engage with the press," Indian journalist Manisha Pande says.

"You have almost North Korean levels of obedience in major prime-time anchors, major prime-time news."

The prime minister has consistently denied he is threatening democracy. 

"I am not undemocratic. I have met 250 people in Delhi for three hours each of freewheeling discussions," he told newspaper Indian Express in 2019.

"I believe that the thinking of the government as well as the thinking of the people in media should be transparent … whether news gets published is not the only thing in a democracy."

Modi's entire life has centred around being India's leader and many, like Professor Hall, say he'll do anything to hold onto that.

“He's the ultimate power politician — he just wants to stay in power."

Modi will be 73 during the upcoming election.

If he wins, as everyone predicts, it will likely be his final term because of an age limit of 75 years for BJP electoral candidates.

The rest of Modi's story remains undetermined. But rules can change.

"He will not leave the post of prime minister while he's alive," his childhood friend Syamaldas says.

"He is such a powerful person."

The ABC's seven-part podcast series, Looking For Modi , is out today. Listen to the first episode on ABC Listen.

  • Reporting: Avani Dias
  • Photography and video: Som Patidar and Meghna Bali, with additional photography courtesy of AFP, AP, Reuters, Election Commission of India, Thomas Harrison (public domain), and Narendra Modi.
  • Digital production: Lucy Sweeney
  • Podcast production and research:  Madeleine Genner and Yasmin Parry
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India slams China's objection to Modi's Arunachal Pradesh visit

New Delhi says reaction 'does not stand to reason' after Beijing lodges diplomatic protest

NEW DELHI -- India on Tuesday rejected China's criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent trip to the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, the latest jab in an escalating territorial sparring match.

New Delhi insisted that the state is an "integral and inalienable part of India." The previous day, Beijing had said it "strongly deplored" Modi's visit and had lodged a diplomatic protest. China claims the territory, which it refers to as Zangnan, or South Tibet, and often takes exception to visits by Indian leaders.

Malaysia, India and Taiwan reject China's new territorial map

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PM Narendra Modi's Visit To Assam's Kaziranga National Park Expected To Drive Tourism

A ssam's famous Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a sought-after tourism hotspot and it is expected to gain in popularity, not just nationally but internationally, in times to come. Abundantly blessed with nature’s beauty, the Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve has been a favourite of wildlife enthusiasts. Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his maiden visit to this beautiful national park and this is only expected to elevate the status of the park to an international eco-tourism site.

Located in the state of Assam in India's North Eastern Region, the National Park is a pristine natural site that is home to a variety of wildlife as well as flora and fauna. "We are sure, the National Park will attract more tourists in the days to come,” sources said. From October 15 last year, the park has reportedly welcomed over 1.80 lakh tourists. The tourism footfall, as per sources, is expected to triple in the next two years. Around 37 highways crisscross the National Park, which means better accessibility, providing visitors with an immersive experience.

Encompassing an impressive 430 square kilometre area, Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve - which was designated as a National Park in 1974 - is the largest undisturbed and representative area in the Brahmaputra Valley region. PM Modi on his visit to the National Park undertook an elephant safari.  PM Modi also undertook a jeep safari within the Mihimukh area situated in the Central Kohora range of the National Park. It is believed that the Prime Minister undertaking these safaris will not only make this National Park more popular but also result in the promotion of responsible wildlife tourism.

Kaziranga National Park is unique among the variety of national parks across the world. It's best known for the world's largest population of one-horned rhinoceroses, apart from having a rich variety of mammals and winged wonders. The national park is located in the Golaghat and Nagaon regions of Assam, it is bordered by the Brahmaputra River to the North and the Karbi Anglong mountains to the South. Framed by lush tea plantations, the National Park offers a breathtaking view of scenic landscape. 

 PM Narendra Modi's Visit To Assam's Kaziranga National Park Expected To Drive Tourism

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