Modi and Albanese to ink major uranium deal as Indian leader’s visit expected to draw 30,000-strong crowd

Anthony Albanese has announced a major uranium deal with India that could end decades of delays to regular shipments of the fuel.

The prime minister said the agreement would enable uranium exports to flow to India for “peaceful purposes,” with Modi hailing it as vital to help expand his country’s nuclear energy sector.

Australia struck a deal with India to sell uranium to the country in 2014 but regular shipments have not occurred due to concerns it could be used for weapons.

Speaking at Government House in Melbourne alongside Modi, the prime minister said Australia’s relationship with India had “never been stronger.”

“We share a focus on deepening and diversifying the relationship between our countries so we can continue to grow from strength to strength,” he said.

Albanese said the uranium arrangement would provide an additional market for Australia’s resource sector. He also pointed to a joint declaration on defence and security co-operation to deepen our practical partnership as signs of the deepening ties between the two countries.

“We undertake to consult on defence related developments in the Indo Pacific that affect our shared interests,” he told reporters.

Modi pointed to the importance of the bilateral relationship for the Indo-Pacific region, saying the countries would work to “bring peace, stability, freedom of navigation and a rules-based order in the entire region.”

The Indian prime minister is in the country for three days and will later on Thursday address more than 20,000 members of the Indian-Australian community in what is expected to be a loud rally at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium.

Speaking at a business event in the city alongside Modi earlier on Thursday, Albanese said for all the “broad affection between our peoples” the relationship between the countries was “underdone, under-explored and under-examined”.

“In the last decade or so, that has certainly changed for the better,” the prime minister said.

“Prime minister Modi, your leadership and your personal engagement with Australia has been absolutely central to this change.

“And so has the drive and determination of the business leaders in this room.”

While few national leaders can lay claim to drawing a crowd of tens of thousands during an international diplomatic visit, Modi is an exception.

The Indian diaspora throughout Australia are making their way to Melbourne in large numbers for a glimpse of the leader of the world’s most populous nation.

Modi was one of three types of people who were “very popular” in his homeland, Canberra India Council chair Deepak-Raj Gupta said.

“Politicians, Bollywood stars and cricket players,’’ he said.

“It doesn’t really matter who you are if you fall into one of those.”

Gupta has travelled to Melbourne with his wife and a contingent of friends to attend as many Modi-related events as possible.

But Modi is also one of the world’s most polarising political leaders.

Human rights groups such as Amnesty International have condemned him for declines in India’s living standards, including targeting of journalists and academics through anti-terror legislation.

Marginal religious groups including Muslims and Christians have also been targeted.

Nevertheless, Modi was able to unite the Indian diaspora in a way no one else could, Australian Multicultural Action Network president Ravi Krishnamurthy said.

“We look for connection [between Australia and India]. There is pride in adding to Australia’s multicultural community,” he said.

Krishnamurthy said he hoped there would be more conversations about two-way trade and tertiary education deals.

“Businesses here are starting to invest in India,” he said.

The Australian Federal Police formally warned a young person who had made a death threat towards Modi ahead of his arrival in Australia.

A far-right influencer also gatecrashed the Melbourne hotel where the Indian prime minister is staying, before being thrown out by police.

He posted a video of his late-night tirade where he yelled “fuck Modi” in the hotel’s lobby.