More than 20,000 people are booked to attend a community reception at Sydney Olympic Park the evening before what would have been the Quad meeting
Indian Australians have booked charter buses, a “Modi Airways” plane and a sold-out arena in Sydney to welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will continue his trip to Australia, despite the cancellation of the Quad Leaders’ Summit in Sydney on May 24.
More than 20,000 people are booked to attend a community reception at Sydney Olympic Park the evening before what would have been the Quad meeting.
Indian Australian Diaspora Foundation spokesman Pranav Aggarwal said plans were going ahead for the visit.
“It is a rare moment. The excitement really knows no bounds,” Aggarwal said.
“There have been over 20,000 tickets which have been given out and really our colleagues have been buzzing.” The reception will feature three hours of performances, and organisers are expecting a speech from Modi himself.
“I’ve been inundated with inquiries that, ‘we want to hear Modi, we want to see Modi’.”
— Sanjay Deshwal, President of the Little India Harris Park Business Association
The Indian Australian Diaspora Foundation has organised a charter plane, “Modi Airways”, to fly keen Modi fans from Melbourne to Sydney for the event.
Another 30 Indian Australians in Brisbane are taking the “Modi Express” overnight bus to Sydney. There have been concerns about religious tension in the lead up to the visit, with a Hindu temple in western Sydney’s Rosehill graffitied with the words “Declare Modi Terrorist” earlier this month.
Aggarwal said it was “with deep sorrow and regret” that the community had seen vandalism at sacred temples, but the majority of Indians were supportive of the event.
In the western Sydney suburb of Harris Park, also known as “Little India”, shops are adorned with flags and balloons, in the hope Modi will take time in his trip to visit.
“I’ve been inundated with inquiries that, ‘we want to hear Modi, we want to see Modi’,” said Sanjay Deshwal, President of the Little India Harris Park Business Association.
“Australia and India always existed to each other for cricket, curries and cinema. But for the first time, after the free trade agreement, politically we are so close,” he told abc.net.au.
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