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Melbourne, Australia: Thousands of members of Melbourne’s Indian diaspora packed Marvel Stadium on July 9, 2026, lighting up the stands with their phone flashlights and waving Indian and Australian flags as Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived for the Melbourne Meets Modi community reception, hosted alongside Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
A Celebration of Culture
The evening opened with cultural performances representing regions across India, from a tribute to yoga through a retelling of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu, folk and classical dances from Assam’s Bihu tradition, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kashmir, and Goa, before closing with a Maratha style tribute to Shivaji Maharaj.
Among the performers was community leader Yogesh Bhatt and his team from the Vivekanand Society of Australia, who performed a self-composed tribute titled “Namo Namo.” Bhatt described the anthem as “born from a blend of patriotic devotion and cultural pride,” and said he hopes it “reaches Modiji one day.”
According to Pranav Aggarwal, spokesperson for the Australia India Foundation (AIF), which organized the event, the night was “about showcasing talent of India and also the vibrancy of Australia to partner with a nation with which it shares so much in common.”
Leaders Highlight a Growing Partnership
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan introduced Albanese, telling the crowd that her first overseas trip as premier was to India in 2024, a visit she said had helped generate around 2,000 jobs in partnership with Indian companies, an international Kabaddi match, and a new deal for Indian international students. She said she had also brought home “a love of yoga,” pointing to a 600 day streak, and told the Indian community in Victoria that “you can be both” proudly Indian and proudly Victorian.
Speaking before introducing Modi, Albanese recalled backpacking through India in 1991, saying the trip taught him that “if you want to understand India, get on a train.” He pointed to the more than one million Australians who trace their roots to India and noted that Deakin University, based in Victoria, became the first foreign university to open a campus in India.
In his own address, Modi thanked the crowd for the reception, joking that Melbourne had “stolen the show,” and described how Indians blend into the countries they settle in, comparing the diaspora to sugar dissolving in milk. “We Indians spread love wherever we go,” he said. Pointing to everyday life in Australian Indian households, he said the milk may be Australian, but the tea is Indian, and the vegetables and lentils may come from Australia, but they are cooked with Indian spices.
Returning repeatedly to what he described as his governing mantra, “Grow More. Achieve More,” Modi highlighted a series of milestones he attributed to the past 12 years, including the DigiLocker platform, which he said now has more than 700 million users storing over 8.5 billion documents, a metro rail network that has grown to become the world’s third largest, and a 5G rollout that has reached 99 percent of India’s districts since 2022, with Made in India 6G now in development.
Modi also pointed to India’s expanding space ambitions, citing Chandrayaan’s historic landing near the Moon’s south pole, the upcoming Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission, and plans for an Indian space station. He referenced the country’s defense manufacturing growth and Operation Sindoor, telling the crowd the strikes on militant camps had “echoed across the world.”
On trade, he quoted the well-known Urdu couplet, “Main akela hi chala tha jaanib-e-manzil, log saath aate gaye aur karvaan banta gaya,” (“I set out alone toward my destination, but as people joined me, a caravan formed”) to describe how the India Australia trade agreement had grown into a template now replicated with nearly 40 countries.
He also highlighted sport as a growing pillar of the relationship, noting India will host the 2030 Commonwealth Games and is bidding for the 2036 Olympics. Turning to education, he said the growing partnership between the two countries was reflected in Australian universities establishing campuses in India.
Modi concluded by pointing to India’s disaster relief efforts abroad, from earthquake response in Venezuela and Turkiye to cyclone relief in Sri Lanka, saying that when India extends help, “it does not see the color of a passport.”
A Crowd Drawn from Across Australia
For many in the stands, though, the evening was less about policy than personal connection. Conversations with attendees throughout the evening revealed a crowd that had traveled from across Australia, including Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Sydney, Brisbane, and Townsville, alongside many from across Victoria.
Shally Khanna, of Melbourne, said attending Modi’s address was “a truly inspiring and unforgettable experience,” adding that hearing chants of “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” around her was “an incredibly emotional and uplifting moment.”
A Portrait Painted Through Hope
According to his wife and carer, Anita Barar, Virender Barar, a former senior IT professional at National Australia Bank, lost his ability to speak, along with much of his language and comprehension, after a major stroke in December 2022. A few months ago, Anita said, he dreamed of Modi and, using the prime minister’s photographs as reference, hand painted a portrait of him.
The couple waited for hours in the hope of placing that portrait in Modi’s hands themselves. Virender could not say what the moment meant to him, but he had already spent months saying it, one brushstroke at a time.
Anita, who cares for her husband while also undergoing treatment for stage 3 cancer, made the trip with him to Marvel Stadium to hear Modi speak.
Rakhi Bose, a Perth based artist named Artist of the Year at the 2026 Western Australian Multicultural Awards for her work using Indian classical and Bollywood dance to build cultural bridges, traveled from Perth for the event, calling it “a unique opportunity to witness a significant moment in Australia India relations.” She said seeing Modi “within a stone’s throw distance gave me real goosebumps and brought tears in my eyes.”
Beyond Politics
For Aggarwal and the AIF, the evening carried a broader significance. He said it was a celebration for the broader Indian diaspora and for Australians of Indian descent like him. “This is also a moment to recognize the historic partnership between nations built around shared values, trade, people, and jobs,” he said.
