{"id":789312,"date":"2026-07-09T14:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T14:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/789312\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T14:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T14:00:14","slug":"narendra-modi-in-melbourne-thousands-gather-at-marvel-stadium-for-cultural-extravaganza-with-anthony-albanese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/789312\/","title":{"rendered":"Narendra Modi in Melbourne: Thousands gather at Marvel Stadium for cultural extravaganza with Anthony Albanese"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Stephen<\/p>\n

Updated July 9, 2026 \u2014 9:13pm,first published 9:11pm<\/p>\n

Save<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

AAA<\/p>\n

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s Melbourne visit had a few elements: business, diplomatic, and sporting. And then there was Thursday night\u2019s genre-busting community\/cultural\/rock star\/political extravaganza at Marvel Stadium.<\/p>\n

Thousands waved their mobile phone lights aloft as Modi took to a purple garlanded stage in the middle of the stadium, accompanied by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, who both experienced a level of cheering and a lack of booing neither was used to.<\/p>\n

\"IndianIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Marvel Stadium on Thursday evening.AP Photo\/Hamish Blair<\/p>\n

In a speech punctuated by frequent bursts of applause, Modi declared that just as sugar sweetens milk, Indians integrate and sweeten societies globally.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as when sugar is added to milk it makes it sweeter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as we Indians infuse the world,\u201d he continued to a crowd estimated at 20,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe milk comes from Australia. However, the tea is made the Indian way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am the tea vendor \u2013 the chai wallah,\u201d said to huge applause.<\/p>\n

Albanese said he had first visited India in 1991 as a backpacker, while Allan said that she was on a 600-day streak of practising yoga since visiting as premier in 2024.<\/p>\n

Modi has now visited Australia three times, the first in 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis completes the hat trick,\u201d he said. \u201cThis demonstrates the heights Indian-Australia relations have reached.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MembersMembers of the Indian community including Gayatri Gangapurkar (left), Rachita Savant (second from right) and Vedashree Jogalekar (right) at the Melbourne community summit for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Eddie Jim<\/p>\n

Not even the Docklands stadium could contain the size or exuberance of \u201cModi Meets Melbourne\u201d, with Cranbourne\u2019s 50-strong Janagar Jana Dhol Pathak drumming group outside gate 2 delivering an eardrum-shattering serenade as the audience arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very important event for us,\u201d drumming leader Satish Gaikwad said. \u201cAustralia and India coming together. That\u2019s the unity we want to show the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DrummerDrummer Satish Gaikwad is thrilled to be drumming to welcome the prime minister.Eddie Jim<\/p>\n

The sound of the massive dhol drums, carried over the shoulder, and the smaller tasha drums completely eclipsed the 30-odd protesters who were sporting a feeble PA system and \u201cModi Go Home\u201d and \u201cStop Indian Invasion\u201d posters.<\/p>\n

This group was largely unnoticed by the 20,000 Indians streaming along the concourse into the stadium, in what could be seen as a metaphor of geopolitical realities between Australia (population 27 million) and India (population 1.47 billion).<\/p>\n

Rachita Savant from Wyndham Vale said she had mixed opinions about the protesters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they don\u2019t have enough information about what they\u2019re speaking,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand their emotions. But honestly, the groups that are coming here today, they\u2019re not all harmful to Australia. These are people who have some calibre to be here. They\u2019re not here living off Centrelink.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially the Indians,\u201d said her friend Gayatri Gangapurkar of Truganina.<\/p>\n

\"FansFans were eager to see Modi at Marvel Stadium.Eddie Jim<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralia is a diverse culture,\u201d Gangapurkar added. \u201cAustralia accepts diversity and India is the same. Because it is one India, but there are different cultures, different languages living together. It\u2019s quite similar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thirty years ago, the Indian diaspora in Australia numbered 50,000, said Pawan Luthra, chief executive of the Indian Link media group. When the next census is released, it is expected to show the figure has grown to 1.3 million, he said.<\/p>\n

The Indian diaspora has already eclipsed the British as the largest foreign-born group here.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of them transition from permanent resident to citizen over time,\u201d Luthra said. \u201cA lot of them want to fully participate in Australia \u2013 except when there is a cricket match on.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Modi: \u201cI value him as a strong economic manager, but there are a lot of things that should have been done better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"IndianIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese embrace on Thursday morning.AP <\/p>\n

As demonstrated by his embrace of Albanese on Thursday, Modi is a world leader who knows the power of a good selfie. He is only the second Indian prime minister in history to win a third consecutive term, after Jawaharlal Nehru. (Indira Gandhi won a non-consecutive four terms.)<\/p>\n

Similarly to Nehru, who had his jacket, Modi\u2019s sense of style means his name has been lent to the Modi kurta, a fitted half or full-sleeve top with a mandarin collar he is often seen wearing.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

But some are highly critical of him. Hindus for Human Rights Australia said it had serious concerns about \u201cdemocracy and human rights, custodial deaths, press freedoms, collapsing educational systems, the right to protest and civil liberties, environmental protections, women\u2019s safety, and the persecution of minorities in India\u201d.<\/p>\n

Both countries are helping each other, said Dr Jagwinder Virk, chair of the India-Australia Strategic Alliance.<\/p>\n

\u201cRelationships are building up,\u201d he said, pointing to critical minerals, trade and the Indian Premier League.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost Australian players spend three to four months in India. They have a second home in India now,\u201d he said. \u201cGlenn Maxwell is married to an Indian woman. That is a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Save<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

\"StephenStephen Brook<\/a> is a special correspondent for The Age and CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously deputy editor of The Sunday Age. He is a former media editor of The Australian and spent six years in London working for The Guardian.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated July 9, 2026 \u2014 9:13pm,first published 9:11pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":789313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-789312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=789312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/789313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=789312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=789312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=789312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}