Indians gather to celebrate the imminent arrival of the Indian PM . Wolter Peeters
Draped in an Indian scarf, Davinder Sharma had driven up from Melbourne with friends to see Mr Modi.
“Wherever Modi goes it is always a rockstar celebration. We always love a festival,” Mr Sharma said.
The frenzy was a far cry from Mr Modi’s private meeting earlier in the day with Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart.
Mrs Rinehart is a long-time fan of Mr Modi’s pro-business policies while and India has made no secret of its desire to secure Australian lithium assets. “The growth recently has been huge, the growth in the future is going to be huge,” Mrs Rinehart said after the meeting.
Mr Modi also met billionaire miner Andrew Forrest and AustralianSuper chief Paul Schroder, ahead of a CEO roundtable on Wednesday that includes Commonwealth Bank boss Matt Comyn, Rio Tinto’s Kellie Parker and BHP’s Geraldine Slattery.
Narendra Modi with Gina Rinehart in Sydney on Tuesday. Twitter
In Harris Park, a little pocket of Modi-mania sprang up in the hope the prime minister would visit the suburb, which neighbours Parramatta.
There local businesses have been campaigning for the shopping strip to be dedicated as “Little India” and there was chatter Mr Modi may come to lay the foundation stone for a gateway. Instead, Mr Modi and Anthony Albanese unveiled a plaque on stage at the arena that will be fitted to the foundation stone.
President of the Little India Harris Park Business Association, Sanjay Deshwal, said the two visits Mr Modi had made to Australia in 2014 and now were the only ones by an Indian leader in 38 years.
“Now the Indian diaspora is growing. We are larger than the Chinese now. Australia-India trade is growing. The largest number of migrants are coming from India. The largest number of students are coming from India. Hence, this visit gains much importance. Relations are booming,” he said.
“India has got a hero worship culture. Luckily for Prime Minister Modi the economy has done very well, the country is booming.
“He is a very smart prime minister, He is the first one who is riding on the wave of digital media and Facebook and all the social media.”
At the Qudos Bank Arena rally, the crowd was getting revved by an outpouring of nationalism, as Bollywood met Homebush Bay.
Anthony Albanese welcomed Mr Modi as his “dear friend”,saying the reception for Mr Modi outdid the response singer Bruce Springsteen got when he performed at the arena.
“Prime Minister Modi is the boss,” Mr Albanese said.
Mr Albanese has a personal affinity with India, having travelled there as a backpacker in 1991, and has forged a strong link with Mr Modi in just 12 months over their six face-to-face meetings.
The Indian community celebrate the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Sydney. James Brickwood
But if the old cliche of cricket, curry and Commonwealth used to draw India and Australia together, China can now be added. Both countries are wary of China’s rise and Canberra and New Delhi are deepening security ties both bilaterally and through the Quad.
In base political terms, the Indian vote is also one to be courted, a growing bloc in battleground western Sydney seats such as Parramatta.
But while the Albanese government speaks frequently that Australia and India share values, it seems though those values increasingly are diverging over issues such as human rights and press freedom.
Freedom House, a US-based think-tank that tracks democracy and freedom around the globe, rates India as only partly free, noting that Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has presided over discriminatory policies and a rise in persecution of Muslims, while harassment of journalists, NGOs and other government critics has “increased significantly”.
“The BJP has increasingly used government institutions to target political opponents,” the think-tank said in its 2023 report.
As Modi travelled to Papua New Guinea on Monday, India’s High Court issued a summons to the BBC over a documentary critical of Modi’s handling of anti-Muslim violence when he was a provincial leader two decades ago. The documentary was banned in India and tax officials raided the broadcaster’s Indian offices.
Meanwhile, a push by Sikh separatists to establish their own state, Khalistan, is also gaining unwanted worldwide attention. In Australia, a series of graffiti attacks on Hindu temples have highlighted the issue, while temples and Indian diplomatic missions have also been vandalised in the US, UK and Canada. Indian officials have been quick to denounce the secessionist push.
The temptation for Mr Albanese to bask in Mr Modi’s reflected glory may be strong, but he needs to be careful to not be completely dazzled.