Prime Minister Narendra Modi has charmed Australian parliament and the Business community on his last day of his visit before heading towards Fiji tonight. He arrived in Melbourne after his bilateral meeting with Australian Prime Minster Tony Abbott in Canberra.
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He also addressed the Australian Parliament where he received warm reception and huge applauds. He was the first Indian Prime Minister to address there and said, “It has taken a Prime Minister of India 28 years to come to Australia. It should never have been so. And, this will change.
Australia will not be at the periphery of our vision, but at the centre of our thought.”
Australia and India has decided to build economic partnership, fight terrorism together and also they sign a nuclear treaty to facilitate India to import uranium from Australia. The two countries signed deals on social security, transfer of sentenced prisoners, combating narcotics trade, tourism, and Arts and Culture.
“Internet has made recruitment and call to violence self-generated. It also feeds off money laundering, drug trafficking and arms smuggling. We have to deepen our bilateral security cooperation. But, we need a comprehensive global strategy for a global problem,” Modi said.
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“India sees Australia as one of our foremost partners in the region. There are few countries in the world where we see so much synergy as we do in Australia,” Modi said.
Pitching for ‘Make in India’ the Prime Minister said, “We have a new Mission for turning ‘Make in India’ into a global name just as Computer in India is. But, we want to find new pathways to prosperity, not simply travel down the roads of the previous century. Much of India’s future cities and infrastructure is yet to be built and so we have a unique opportunity to make our choices now.”
“India’s development, demography and demand provide a unique long term opportunity for Australia — and all in the familiar framework of democracy. There is no other example of this nature in the world. Indian investors, too, are coming here in growing numbers and commitments,” he added.
“We celebrate the legend of Bradman and the class of Tendulkar together. We are impressed by Australian speed as you are charmed by the Indian spin, until of course Shane Warne came along!” Modi joked at the parliament.
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The Australian Prime Minister Abbott said, “If all goes well, Australia will export uranium to India under suitable safeguards because cleaner energy is one of the most important contributions that Australia can make to wider world. We want to be dependable source of energy, security of food and of security of India.”
“If all goes to plan an Indian company will begin Australia’s largest ever coal development which will light the lives of hundred and million Indians for the next of half century,” he said.
“If all goes to plan, and no one, if I may say so, has made the Indian bureaucracy perform as Prime Minister Modi did it in Gujarat, by the end of next year, we will have a free trade deal with what is potentially the world’s largest market,” he said.
“Australia welcomes India’s strength in the Indian Ocean. Australia admires Prime Minister Modi’s invitation to come Make in India which echoes our own determination that Australia will be open for business but despite that regrettably Australia only did $15 billion business with India last year and that hardly does justice to our two countries’ potential,” Abbott said.
“Although India’s GDP per person is still only about half of China, its growth is strong and economic prospects are broad and population is likely to overtake China’s in couple of decades. This is why people now speak of the India-Pacific. It is now the focus of the world economic dynamism. With China, India is the rising superpower of Asia — the emerging superpower that is already a democracy,” he said.
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On Monday Narendra Modi addressed Indian diaspora at the Allphones Arena in Sydney’s Olympic Park and promised the Indian-Australian community that his government will fulfill long pending demand of merger of Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) and Person of Indian Origin (PIO) in two-month time.
Addressing a gathering over 17,000 crowds, Modi he was “happier to remove” the stale law.
“Let’s open the windows let fresh air come in,” Modi said, “I know that behind this affection lies expectations. Yes. We want to create the India you are dreaming of.”
“Government can’t build a nation. Only the people can build a nation. I have full confidence in the ability of our citizens. Previous governments enjoyed making laws. I enjoy scrapping them,” Modi said.
(with input from PTI)
Tags: Australia india Narendra Modi Tony Abbott
