PM Narendra Modi addressing the Indian diaspora at the Allphones Arena in Sydney
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his way up to the stage amid drum beats, cymbals clashing, wild applause and chants of "Modi, Modi" at the Allphones Arena in Sydney's Olympic Park. About 16,000 people attended the event, organised by members of the Indian-Australian community.
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Making his first public address in Australia, PM Modi began by saying that the love and honour he was given today is the right of all Indians, not his. He also said, "Mother India has 250 crore arms, 200 crore of those arms are younger than 35. It's the youth of India who can help us fulfil our potential."
He talked about cricket and the "cultural history that linked" India and Australia. He also said, to much cheering, "You can take off from India at night and reach Australia the next morning. But it took 28 years for an Indian PM to reach Australia. I promise you will never need to wait that long again."
On stage, PM Modi greeted among others, an Australia-based cartoonist Ramesh Chandra, who is a cancer patient and had requested a meeting. As he had arrived at the arena, dressed in a white kurta and blue jacket, he was mobbed by enthusiastic fans who clamoured for photographs.
A glittering cultural show was organised. Among the highlights of the evening was Australian pacer-turned-actor Brett Lee welcoming "Modi ji" to Australia. With Tannishtha Chatterjee, his co-actor in a soon-to-be-released film by his side, Brett Lee also said, "Namaskar."
Outside the Allphones arena, there is Indian food, people in Modi masks, drummers and dancers. About 5,000 people who could not get tickets to the show inside are watching Mr Modi speak on big screens outside the venue.
"Hello Sydney!" said a tweet from the Prime Minister's Office, accompanied by a photo of Mr Modi waving as he arrived at the Sydney airport this morning. PM Modi, who is the first Indian prime minister to visit Australia in 28 years, will be in Sydney for six hours.
At Sydney's Pullman Hotel, four aboriginal dancers performed in welcome and Mr Modi was gifted a boomerang. Mr Modi tweeted a photo and said, "Amazing welcome in Sydney. Glad to be here."
"Modi fever grips Sydney," the Canberra Times said in a headline on Sunday. "The city will get a dose of Modi-mania when the Indian Prime Minister makes a quick-fire, high-energy visit," the newspaper said in a report in its online edition.
About 220 Modi fans traveled 11 hours from Melbourne to Sydney on a specially chartered train decked in India's national colours, being called the "Modi Express." A special Gujarati meal was served on board the train. There are around 450,000 people of Indian origin in Australia, including many from the student community.
Volunteers who took days off from work to organise the Sydney event, had promised a reception more grand than the one Mr Modi received in September at the famous Madison Square Garden in New York, the playground of the biggest rock stars.
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