'Melbourne meets Modi': About 30,000 people gather for PM Modi's speech at Marvel Stadium | WATCH

Around 30,000 people gathered at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne on Thursday for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the Indian diaspora. At the community event, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stood alongside PM Modi and honored the national anthems of India and Australia.

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PM Modi and Albanese then embraced.

According to news agency ANI, the event is possibly the largest of its kind ever held by any leader in Australia.

The Indian diaspora was very excited to see PM Modi.

Quick answers to key questions

•5 QUESTIONS

PM Modi’s speech aimed to connect with the Indian diaspora in Australia and show the growing relationship between India and Australia.

The relationship is key because of shared strategic interests, particularly in countering China’s military ambitions and strengthening energy and trade ties.

The uranium supply deal supports India’s ambition to increase nuclear power generation to reach 100 gigawatts by 2047.

PM Modi emphasizes that the collaboration presents historic opportunities for cooperation across various sectors, especially in energy and technology.

Speaking to ANI, Madan Palsule, a member of the Indian diaspora, said, “PM Modi is a dynamic and charismatic leader… We are all excited to present an Indian drama based on Shivaji’s life… and look forward to performing in front of PM Modi.”

“We welcome PM Modi here… I am waiting for him along with many other members of the Indian diaspora… We hope Indian leaders will continue to come here… We listen to him even though he lives abroad…” said another Indian.

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India-Australia relationship

India and Australia have grown considerably closer in recent years, a relationship driven in part by a shared desire to contain Beijing’s military ambitions while developing trade ties outside of China.

“It has historically been quite a difficult relationship, given the different positions of India and Australia during the Cold War,” Teesta Prakash of the Australia India Institute was quoted as saying by AFP.

“But now we are in a completely different strategic environment.”

Securing a reliable uranium pipeline is expected to be a key topic of discussion when Modi meets his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese on Thursday.

India, the world’s most populous country with 1.4 billion people, plans to drastically expand its nuclear capacity.

And mining giant Australia holds up to 28 percent of the world’s uranium resources, according to World Nuclear Association estimates.

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India and Australia struck a nuclear cooperation agreement in 2015 that paved the way for uranium exports, but legal hurdles remain and trade is largely non-existent today.

“Uranium has always been a hot topic between Australia and India,” Prakash told AFP. “Historically, India has asked Australia to ship them to India. But is Australia willing to do that?”

With ambitions to dominate the electric vehicle market, India is also looking for critical minerals such as lithium, a resource Australia has in abundance.

Australia, India, the United States and Japan are members of the Quad, a group seen as a counterweight to China in the Asia-Pacific region.

But with the United States seemingly less interested in the alliance, New Delhi and Canberra have shown an increasing willingness to work one-on-one on defense issues.