modi visit to australia 2023

Modi-Albanese talks focussed on 11 bilateral topics

Indian foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra also said that the talks held between the Prime Ministers of India and Australia focussed on 11 bilateral topics.

'PM Modi-Albanese talks based on trade and investment'

Foreign secretary Vijay Mohan Kwatra on Wednesday said that the talks held between PM Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese were based on trade an investment.

PM Modi in Australia: A briefing by foreign secretary Vijay Mohan Kwatra's on PM Modi's Australia visit in under way.

PM Anthony Albanese and I have in the past discussed the issue of attack on temples in Australia and activities of separatist elements. We discussed the matter today also. It is not acceptable to us that anyone hurt the friendly and cordial ties between India and Australia by their actions or ideology. PM Albanese assured me once again today that he will take strict actions against such elements in the future also.

Narendra Modi, PM

PM Modi in Australia Live: In cricketing terminology India, Australia are firmly in T-20 mode: PM Modi on Twitter

Narendra Modi receives rock-star reception in Sydney as Anthony Albanese hails ‘rich friendship’

Australian PM announces cricketer Adam Gilchrist as board member of new centre for Australia-India relations in Parramatta

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Thousands of members of Australia’s Indian community have given a rapturous stadium welcome to Anthony Albanese and Narendra Modi as a new centre for Australia-India relations was announced for Sydney’s west.

The two prime ministers were constantly cheered at the Olympic Park rally on Tuesday evening ahead of more formal talks between the pair planned for Wednesday.

Albanese announced the centre to help foster new ties and strengthen relations between both nations would be based in Parramatta, “a place that itself is a testament to the vitality of the Indian-Australian experience”.

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“We want to see more connections, more Australian and Indian students living and studying in each other’s countries and bringing those experiences home.”

The government on Tuesday night announced members of the advisory board for the new centre, including the former Australian cricket captain Adam Gilchrist.

Albanese urged those in the crowd to vote yes in the upcoming referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament.

He said the last time he saw someone on the stage at the venue was a Bruce Springsteen concert but he hadn’t received as big a welcome as Modi did.

“Prime minister Modi is the boss,” Albanese said.

Addressing the crowd, he said they had “brought the spirit of the world’s biggest democracy to Australia”. “And you have helped make our democracy stronger and more inclusive.”

The prime ministers also unveiled a plaque for the foundation stone of the Little India gateway in Sydney’s Harris Park.

Thousands of members of Australia’s Indian community attended the Qudos Bank Arena to welcome Modi, in his first visit in 10 years and the prime ministers’ sixth meeting in 12 months.

Many members of the Indian community had travelled from around Australia to attend the rally.

Speaking in Hindi, Modi said relations between both countries were “based on mutual trust and respect”.

In planned official talks on Wednesday the two leaders are expected to discuss trade, defence and renewable energy.

“This is a relationship we need to invest in,” Albanese told parliament on Tuesday. “We have a rich friendship and a very affectionate sporting rivalry.

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“We are both part of a growing, dynamic region and prime minister Modi is a very welcome visitor to our shores.”

He hoped trade discussions concerning the comprehensive economic cooperation agreement, which began in 2011, would conclude this year and said ties on renewable energy, critical minerals, security and defence were growing.

As crowds gathered outside the arena hours before the rally, Modi met business leaders including the mining billionaires Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest.

He also discussed infrastructure investment in India and how Australia manages retirement pensions with Paul Schroder, the head of the country’s largest superannuation fund, Australian Super.

Some groups want alleged human rights abuses on the agenda during the whistle-stop tour.

Human Rights Watch’s Asia director, Elaine Pearson, has urged Australia to not to repeat the “same mistakes it made with the Chinese government by pursuing deeper trade engagement while sidelining human rights concerns”.

Asked whether human rights should be on the agenda, the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, said India was a large democracy that shared values with Australia.

“We have never had a greater strategic alignment with India than we do right now,” he told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.“Both countries are deeply invested in the collective security of the Indo-Pacific region.”

India has snubbed global calls to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Moscow remaining a large arms supplier to New Delhi.

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PM Modi Australia: Modi emplanes for Delhi from Australia's Sydney

Pm modi australia 2023: prime minister narendra modi was on a three-day visit to australia  pm modi has invited his australian counterpart anthony albanese to india for cricket world cup.

PM Modi Australia 2023 Updates: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday held a formal discussion with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese in Sydney. The leaders discussed wide-ranging topics like renewable energy, defence, strategic partnership, and trade, among others. PM Modi was in Australia for the first time since 2014. India is Australia's sixth largest trading partner, while around 750,000 people in Australia claim Indian ancestry.

Catch all the updates on PM Modi's visit to Australia at Mint:

Updates to this blog have ended

Pm modi emplanes for delhi from australia's sydney.

PM Modi's tour to Australia has ended. He has now boarded a flight to Delhi from Australia's Sydney.

PM Modi says will keep working towards vibrant India-Aus friendship

Pm modi so important in globe's energy transition: ceo of recharge industries.

CEO of Recharge Industries, after meeting PM Modi at business leaders roundtable, said the prime minister was “so important" in the globe's energy transition. “PM Modi is so important in the globe's energy transition. He is already on the front foot..." he said.

PM Modi meets Aus Leader of Opposition Peter Dutton

PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday met Australia's Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton for ensuring strong bipartisan support for the strategic bilateral relations. PM Modi met Peter Dutton during the third and final leg of his three-nation tour. After the meeting, Peter Dutton said the meeting was "productive".

Sydney Harbour, Opera House light up in ‘Tiranga’

The Sydney Harbour and Opera House light up in the colours of India's national flag in honour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Australia on a 3-day visit.

PM Modi invites Australian firms to invest in India's infra, defence, other sectors

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited Australian businesses to take advantage of investment opportunities in India in sectors like IT, fintech, telecom, semiconductors, space, and renewable energy including green hydrogen, education, pharma, healthcare.

India, Australia free trade pact talks next month likely

The Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) negotiations between India and Australia is planned in the month of June, and July respectively, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Wednesday said.

He said that after the launch of the India-Australia ECTA (Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement) recently, the discussions have progressed very well within a short period of time.

S Jaishankar meets Australian FM Senator Penny Wong

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar met Australian FM Senator Penny Wong on the margins of the Prime Ministers’ Summit in Australia. He said, "India and Australia are increasingly demonstrating their ability to go beyond the bilateral and collaborate at the regional and global level".

Australia will establish new Consulate General in Bengaluru: PM Albanese

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the opening of the new Australian Consulate General in Bengaluru.

PM Albanese said, “I'm pleased to announce the establishment of a new Australian Consulate General in Bengaluru, which will help connect Australian businesses to India's booming digital and innovation ecosystem. And I welcome India's plans for a consulate general in Brisbane".

PM Modi meets Governor General of Australia David Hurley

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met Governor General of Australia David Hurley and both the leaders discussed the people-to-people connection between the two countries and the strengthening of long-standing bilateral partnership.

PM Modi raises issue of attacks on temples in Australia | Watch

Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of attacks on temples in the country and said that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had assured to take "strict actions against such elements in the future."

India strikes new agreements on green hydrogen in Australia

Australia and India have signed a new migration partnership and have agreed to work on green hydrogen technology to bring the two nations closer together.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi accorded a Ceremonial Guard of Honour | Watch

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was accorded a Ceremonial Guard of Honour at the Admiralty House in Sydney, Australia on Wednesday.

PM Modi also signed the visitors' book at the Admiralty House in Sydney.

'This is a relationship we need to invest in,' says Australian PM praising Prime Minister Modi

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met in Sydney on Wednesday for bilateral discussions. Albanese said, "Prime Minister Modi's visit has strengthened the close and strong relationship that Australia enjoys with India". He added, "This is a relationship we need to invest in. Our strong partnership with India will deliver benefits for Australian trade, investment, and business na sin regional security and stability".

India, Australia committed to taking Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to newer heights: PM Modi

PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday tweeted about the topics of discussions with Australian PM Anthony Albanese. "In today’s talks, the focus was on sectors such as mining, critical minerals, renewable energy, trade, commercial linkages, and more. The migration and mobility agreement signed today will help our people. We also had the opportunity to discuss global issues including India’s work in the G-20 Presidency," PM Modi said.

PM Modi invites Australian cricket fans, PM Albanese to India for 2023 World Cup

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited his Australian counterpart PM Anthony Albanese and all Australian cricket fans to India for World Cup 2023. 10 teams to compete in ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier from 18 June – 9 July 2023.

PM Modi Australia: 'We are firmly in T-20 mode!' Narendra Modi to Anthony Albanese

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Australia currently, met his Australian counterpart PM Anthony Albanese for the 6th time in a year. PM Modi said that the frequent meetings between the two leaders is a sign of 'India-Australia friendship'. He added, ' In cricketing terminology- we are firmly in T-20 mode!'

PM Modi holds bilateral meeting with Australian PM Anthony Albanese in Sydney

Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday held a bilateral meeting with his Australian counterpart in Sydney, Australia.

The meeting was also attended by India's External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval.

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Indian diaspora to host event for PM Modi in Australia during his May visit

The indian australian diaspora foundation will host the welcome event for prime minister narendra modi on may 23, a day before the quad summit..

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• The Indian diaspora will be hosting an event to welcome PM Modi in Australia
• The event will showcase Indian culture in form of singing and dance performances
• Modi will be in Australia to attend the Quad leaders' summit on May 24

The Indian Australian Diaspora Foundation (IADF) is set to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a grand community event in Sydney on May 23, during his upcoming visit to Australia. Modi will be in Australia to attend the Quad summit along with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on May 24.

Ahead of the summit, the foundation has planned a cultural event in collaboration with other Indian diaspora organisations to give a warm welcome to the PM.

Modi's Australia visit A press release shared by the foundation on Thursday about the welcome reception read, “The event aims to provide the large and growing Indian diaspora of Australia with an opportunity to listen to our beloved leader, the Prime Minister of India.”

The event will include “colourful” singing and dance performances to highlight India’s rich and diverse culture as per the press release. The venue and time for the reception will be announced shortly, according to the Indian Australian Diaspora Foundation’s website. IADF is a non-profit organsation that works to promote and celebrate India’s diverse culture in Australia.

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Quad meet cancelled, PM Modi to go ahead with Australia visit

“The Quad leaders’ meeting will not be going ahead in Sydney next week,” Albanese then said in Tweed Heads, a town in New South Wales. He said the Quad leaders — Australia, the US, India and Japan – would now meet at the G7 Summit in Hiroshima this weekend.

WITH US President Joe Biden cancelling his trip to Australia due to the crucial debt-ceiling talks in Washington, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that the Quad leaders’ summit would not take place in Sydney. However, there is a possibility of the Quad leaders meeting in Hiroshima, on the margins of the G7 summit.

But Prime Minister Narendra Modi , who has lined up bilateral engagements including a meeting with Albanese, top business CEOs and the Indian diaspora in Sydney, will continue with his scheduled trip to Australia, sources said in New Delhi.

Early Wednesday morning, Biden announced that he would postpone the Australia leg of his Asia trip, along with that of Papua New Guinea, given the uncertainty and intense negotiations with the opposition Republican party to ensure that America does not default on its debt for the first time in history.

“We, though, will be having that discussion between Quad leaders in Japan. I thank Prime Minister (Fumio) Kishida for his invitation for me to attend the G7 and it is appropriate that we talk. The Quad is an important body and we want to make sure that it occurs at the leadership level and we’ll be having that discussion over the weekend,” Albanese said.

“All four leaders — President Biden, Prime Minister Kishida, Prime Minister Modi and myself — will be at the G7, held in Hiroshima on Saturday and Sunday. We are attempting to get together over that period of time (and) I’ll have a bilateral discussion with President Biden,” he said. “At this stage, we haven’t got a time locked in for that arrangement,” he said.

He also said that Modi would still travel to Australia next week.

“Prime Minister Modi will be here next week for a bilateral meeting with myself,” Albanese told ABC Radio in Brisbane. Modi will also have business meetings and will hold a very public event at Homebush, at the Olympic Park in Sydney, he said.

“He will also be engaging with Australian-India business relations… I look forward to welcoming him to Sydney,” Albanese said.

Sources in Delhi said Modi’s engagements in Australia next week will remain unchanged, barring the Quad summit in Sydney.

The Ministry of External Affairs had announced Modi’s three-nation tour beginning Friday that included his visit to Australia from May 22 to 24.

In the first leg of his trip, Modi will visit Hiroshima from May 19 to 21 for the G7 annual summit. From Japan, he will travel to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea where he will co-host the third summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) on May 22 with Prime Minister James Marape.

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Australian MPs to mark Modi visit by screening critical BBC documentary in Parliament House

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Australia ’s parliament will hold a special screening of a BBC documentary critical of Narendra Modi a day after the prime minister addressed a mass gathering of the country’s Indian diaspora in Sydney .

There will be a 40-minute screening of the two-part documentary India : The Modi Question at Australia’s Parliament House on Wednesday, just hours after Mr Modi holds bilateral talks with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese. The two leaders are expected to discuss trade and investment, renewable energy and defence and security cooperation.

The Indian leader is looking to deepen ties with Australia in his first visit since 2014.

The documentary, banned in India, examines the prime minister’s relationship with Muslims, the country’s largest minority group, and the fallout over the 2002 religious riots that took place in the western Gujarat state at a time when Mr Modi was its chief minister.

Following the screening of the film, there will be a panel discussion including remarks by Akashi Bhatt, the daughter of Sanjiv Bhatt, a former top Gujarat police officer who claimed that the Hindu nationalist prime minister had told officials in a meeting during the Gujarat riots that Hindus should be allowed to vent their anger.

Mr Modi has denied accusations that he did not do enough to stop the riots and last year, India’s Supreme Court gave him a clean chit and cleared him of wrongdoing , with previous investigations finding there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him.

Bhatt is currently serving a life term in prison over the case of a custodial death.

Last year, the Gujarat Special Investigation Team, probing allegations of fabrication of evidence linked to the 2002 riots, filed a chargesheet against activist Teesta Setalvad, Bhatt and RB Sreekumar , another former top police official, accusing them of collusion to try and implicate Mr Modi and top officials in crimes punishable with death.

The chargesheet said Bhatt had lied about the meeting in February 2002, reported The Times of India.

The panel on Wednesday will also include Australian senators Jordan Steele-John and David Shoebridge as well as Amnesty India chair Aakar Patel and professor Mohan Dutta of the Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE).

The screening of the documentary has been organised by the group We The Diaspora in collaboration with various human rights groups and collectives like CARE, Hindus for Human Rights (Australia and New Zealand), Amnesty International , Periyar Ambedkar Thoughts Circle-Australia (PATC-A) and The Humanism Project.

Mr Shoebridge described the documentary as “extremely well-researched” and criticised India’s ban on it, reported Australia’s SBS News.

“We’ve made it very clear that Australia has and should have a strong friendship with India, but that friendship should be a friendship of truth,” he was quoted as saying to the outlet.

“We have said repeatedly that the degrading human rights situation in India, that the lack of freedom of press, needs to be an issue that is squarely raised by Australia in its involvement with the Indian government.

“So if the BBC documentary can’t be shown in India, well surely it should be able to be shown here, right in the heart of democracy in Australia.”

The screening comes as the British broadcaster was summoned on Monday by the Delhi high court in a defamation suit filed by a Gujarat-based non-profit Justice on Trial.

The first part of the series, that aired on 17 January, showed a previously unpublished report from the UK Foreign Office that held Mr Modi “directly responsible” for the “climate of impunity” that enabled the 2002 Gujarat riots to take place.

The violence led to the deaths of nearly 1,000 people – mostly Muslims.

India’s federal government dubbed the documentary a “ propaganda piece ” that showed a “continued colonial mindset”.

The BBC earlier defended itself and said its production abided by the “highest editorial standards”.

Weeks after the release of the documentary, India’s tax authorities conducted raids on the BBC’s offices in New Delhi and Mumbai .

Australia’s foreign minister Penny Wong, when asked about the raids in March, had told SBS News that it was “a matter for the Indian legal system”.

“Australia and India are close friends. We are comprehensive strategic partners. As you would anticipate, we will engage on human rights regularly, and we do,” she said.

Meanwhile, Mr Modi addressed a mass rally of the Indian diaspora on Tuesday with Mr Albanese, who said the prime minister received a bigger welcome than Bruce Springsteen. He added that the Indian prime minister was “the boss”.

Mr Modi used the event to announce the opening of a new Indian consulate in Brisbane and heralded ties between India and Australia.

He also claimed that India had the fastest vaccination programme and helped export medicine to other countries amid the Covid pandemic.

He, however, did not mention the reported massive death toll that occurred from Covid in the country in the face of crumbling healthcare infrastructure during India’s second wave of the pandemic.

The event was organised at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney Olympic Park, one of the city’s biggest indoor stadiums for the event.

A chartered Qantas flight rebranded as “Modi Airways” brought fans from Melbourne and “Modi Express” buses were chartered from Queensland, reported ABC News.

Mr Modi has previously addressed massive rallies of Indian diaspora members in the US and UK.

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Modi 3.0: What India's election means for Australia and the world

Governing in coalition, the BJP may need to soften its hardline tactics to deepen ties with its strategic partners.

This year is monumental for democratic elections around the world. But India’s election is what middle and global powers have been fixated on. The largest ever democratic exercise saw more than 642 million participants voting over a six-week period, to elect 543 MPs to the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament). Indian voters have defied predictions, challenging the notion that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would continue its dominance. Securing 240 seats on its own, incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP is set to form government once again, but only with the support of its coalition partners in the NDA (National Democratic Alliance). This positions Modi as only the second Indian leader to start a third consecutive term, following in the footsteps of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Internationally, the BJP’s third consecutive victory, although with a reduced number of seats, means continuity in a stable and reliable partner for Australia and other global partners. It also means commitment to a multipolar world of inclusive cooperation and an increasingly strong leader for developing countries. 

Preserving strategic autonomy will continue to be a hallmark of India’s attempt to realise its own potential – moving from a middle power to gaining more appetite on the global power stage.

As the fastest growing economy in the world, India has caught the attention of countries wanting to diversify their supply chains away from China. Yet Modi 3.0 will still have much work to do to deliver on the big promise of India becoming the third-largest economy by the end of the decade. Generating more power while cutting pollution, developing more infrastructure, and enabling more foreign investment in manufacturing are key for India to fulfil its promise.  

While its global backers – such as Australia, the United States, France and Japan – are central to its economic and security goals, India’s “go its own way” approach will ensure its historical ties to Russia remain a feature of its multi-alignment foreign policy. Preserving strategic autonomy will continue to be a hallmark of India’s attempt to realise its own potential – moving from a middle power to gaining more appetite on the global power stage.

As China remains a constant adversary, India’s participation in the US-led Quad will remain a cornerstone of its foreign policy. And the Quad’s focus on a free and open Indo-Pacific will continue to guide India’s multilateral cooperation. With India set to host the Quad leaders’ meeting this year, there exists a massive opportunity for Modi 3.0 to set the agenda on what a third term Modi government wants to achieve with the West and how it chooses to cooperate. Picking up the phone and calling President Joe Biden needs to be a first priority. 

A Modi 3.0 government will also ensure India’s Act East policy, emphasising economic cooperation and strategic partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, continues or is even enhanced through further engagement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and through its role as a leader of the Global South. India’s Neighbourhood First policy, prioritising socio-economic development and bilateral engagement with neighbouring countries, could also get a boost. 

India’s commitment to, and aspiration for, a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific will require it to intensify its relations with small island states in the region and continue to “be a friend” to its Pacific neighbours, as Modi declared India was during his first visit to Papua New Guinea for the India-designed Forum for India–Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) summit last year.

With China as a persistent security concern, the BJP’s manifesto commitment to strengthening borders and investing in maritime security through defence partnerships with like-minded partners will continue to align well with Australia’s strategic priorities. 

Australia’s trajectory to deepen ties with India, both strategically and economically as a counterweight to China, will only continue.

And new initiatives such as BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) highlight India’s broader regional aspirations. For Australia, this signifies opportunities for expanded collaboration in the Northeast Indian Ocean region, a feature of its Defence Strategy for enhancing regional stability . It also provides an opportunity to build on bilateral defence and security links and information-sharing across the broader Indo-Pacific region.

How India chooses to engage overseas with its expansive Indian diaspora will be an area to watch, as will any new developments regarding the India–Canada relationship. Maintaining people-to-people links with the growing Indian diaspora in Australia while navigating complex bilateral dynamics will be crucial for Australia–India relations to avoid falling into the Canada playbook. 

Australia’s trajectory to deepen ties with India, both strategically and economically as a counterweight to China, will only continue. But what this Indian election outcome may now provide is a more comfortable position for Canberra. Governing in coalition may require a softening of the previous hardline BJP tactics of democratic backsliding to truly enable India’s plural democracy to flourish. 

India’s struggle for independence played a vital role in heightening the political understanding, social consciousness, and awareness of the people of India who after years of colonial subjugation understood the significance and value of democracy, equality, and civil rights. That understanding has been taken up at this election by a proud nation of 1.4 billion people who have given new life to a modern India that reflects the diversity it stands for.

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India to invite top neighbouring leaders on Modi’s Oath ceremony

India is likely to invite leaders of a number of its neighbouring countries, including Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, to the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the weekend, it was learnt here.

Modi is all set to take charge as the prime minister for a historic third consecutive term with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) winning 293 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.

Top leaders of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and Mauritius are likely to be among the foreign leaders to be invited for Modi’s oath-taking ceremony.

The media division of Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office said Modi invited him to the swearing-in ceremony. It said Wickremesinghe accepted the invite and congratulated Modi on the electoral victory in a phone call.

“During the conversation, Prime Minister @narendramodi invited President Wickremesinghe to his swearing-in ceremony, which President @RW_UNP accepted,” it said.

Modi also had a phone conversation with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and invited her to attend his swearing-in ceremony which she accepted, sources said.

They said Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Jugnauth are set to be invited to Modi’s swearing-in ceremony. Modi had a separate phone conversations with Prachanda.  The formal invitations are set to be sent on Thursday, said one of the people cited above. Maldives President Mohammad Muizzu was also invited for the swearing-in ceremony, it was learnt.

 The leaders of regional grouping SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries attended Modi’s first swearing-in ceremony when he took the reins as the prime minister after a massive electoral victory for the BJP.

Leaders of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation(BIMSTEC)countries attended Modi’s swearing-in ceremony in 2019 when he became prime minister for the second consecutive term.  Modi is likely to take oath on June 8.

More than 50 world leaders including US President Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Prime Minister Modi for securing third consecutive term.

Prime Minister Modi on Thursday received a congratulatory telephone call from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister’s Office(PMO)here said. Modi thanked his Australian counterpart for his wishes.

Modi warmly recalled his visit to Australia in 2023 and his meeting with Albanese on the sidelines of the G20 Summit last September in Delhi.  Prime Minister reiterated his firm commitment to work together with the Australian Prime Minister to further strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and work closely on the shared priorities in the Indo-Pacific region.

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong congratulated his India counterpart Narendra Modi and his ruling alliance on their electoral victory, saying he was looking forward to deepening ties between the two countries, PTI said from Singapore. In a post on social media platform X, Wong described Modi’s win, which secures a third consecutive term for him, as “historic”.

Wong said he was looking forward to working with Modi to deepen the Singapore-India partnership and to celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries in 2025.

“Congratulations @narendramodi on the historic victory by the NDA for the third consecutive term. Look forward to working with you to deepen the Singapore-India partnership and to celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties next year.”

President Biden on Wednesday congratulated Modi on his electoral victory, with his administration saying that it was looking forward to continuing to further its partnership with India to promote prosperity and innovation, address the climate crisis and ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region, PTI said from Washington.

Biden, who is currently travelling to France, personally made a phone call to Modi to congratulate him. “Congratulations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the National Democratic Alliance on their victory, and the nearly 650 million voters in this historic election. The friendship between our nations is only growing as we unlock a shared future of unlimited potential,” he said in a social media post later.

“The friendship between our nations is only growing as we unlock a shared future of unlimited potential,” Biden said on X, which was soon followed by similar congratulatory messages by other senior members of his administration, including Secretary of State Tony Blinken.

In a post tagging Biden on X, Prime Minister Modi said he was happy to receive the call from his “friend”.

“Deeply value his warm words of felicitations and his appreciation for the Indian democracy. Conveyed that India-US Comprehensive Global Partnership is poised to witness many new landmarks in the years to come. Our partnership will continue to be a force for global good for the benefit of humanity,” Modi said.

In his replies to world leaders, including Putin and Sunak, in their congratulatory messages to him, Modi has underscored the strength of India’s relations with their countries and his commitment to further strengthening it.

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Biden reacts to Modi's reelection as Indian prime minister

W ashington DC - The US on Wednesday congratulated Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his coalition's election win, saying it hoped to work with the Hindu nationalist leader on a "free and open" Asia.

"The friendship between our nations is only growing as we unlock a shared future of unlimited potential," President Joe Biden wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The White House later announced that National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan would be traveling to New Delhi for talks with the government on "shared US-India priorities, including the trusted, strategic technology partnership."

Separately, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the US hoped to keep advancing "our partnership with the Indian government to promote prosperity and innovation, address the climate crisis and ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region," a US catchphrase for opposing moves by China .

Miller in a statement called the election "the largest exercise in democracy in human history," and commended "Indian voters, poll workers, civil society and journalists."

US prioritizes relations with India

The US since the late 1990s has put a high priority on building relations with India, seeing the billion-plus democracy as like-minded on key areas including the rise of China and the threat of Islamist extremism.

Biden has kept up the courtship, welcoming Modi on a state visit last year and boosting the role of the "Quad" – a group bringing together the US, India, Japan, and Australia, all major democracies with degrees of friction with China.

The embrace of Modi comes despite criticism from human rights groups and some progressive members of Biden's Democratic Party over what they see as rising authoritarianism and anti-Muslim hate by the Hindu nationalist prime minister.

The Biden administration, while gently raising concerns on human rights, has largely brushed off concerns and moved full-speed ahead with Modi.

But senior US officials quietly warned India of consequences to the relationship after federal prosecutors last year alleged that an Indian intelligence officer was involved in an assassination plot against a Sikh separatist on US soil.

Modi is set for a third term in office after the election, but his Bharatiya Janata Party lost seats and will need coalition partners, falling short of early hopes of a landslide.

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June 4, 2024 - Modi declares victory in India election as BJP party faces shock setbacks

By Rhea Mogul, Jessie Yeung, Diksha Madhok, Antoinette Radford and Tori B. Powell, CNN

Our live coverage for the day has ended. Follow the latest India election news  or read through the updates below.

Photos: Scenes from India's general election

The votes were counted Tuesday after the world's largest election was held in India.

From April 19 to June 1, more than 640 million people cast their vote at polling stations from the high peaks of the Himalayas to the remote jungles of the west.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi  declared victory on Tuesday – but his goal of winning an unassailable majority lay in tatters with early results showing voters reduced the extent of his party’s grip on power.

Analysis: Modi, Ambani and Adani — the men shaping India’s economy 

Analysis from CNN’s Diksha Madhok 

In less than a decade, Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani has upended India’s telecom sector and become a top player in sectors ranging from media to retail as chairman of India’s most valuable private company: Reliance Industries.  

His ambition and breathless pace of expansion is matched by Gautam Adani, founder of the Adani group, who helms businesses ranging from ports and power to defense and aerospace. 

Reliance Industries and the Adani Group are sprawling conglomerates worth over $200 billion each, with businesses in sectors ranging from fossil fuels and clean energy to media and technology. 

Investors have been cheering the duo’s ability to adroitly bet on sectors prioritized for development by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

As a result, these three men — Modi, Ambani and Adani — are playing a fundamental role in shaping the economic superpower India will become in the coming decades. 

The South Asian country is poised to become a 21st-century economic powerhouse, offering a real alternative to China for investors hunting for growth and manufacturers looking to reduce risks in their supply chains. 

Worth $3.7 trillion in 2023, India is the world’s fifth largest economy, jumping four spots in the rankings during Modi’s decade in office and leapfrogging the United Kingdom. 

Sustained expansion will push India higher up the ranks of the world’s biggest economies, with some observers forecasting the South Asian nation to become number three behind only the US and China by 2027. 

Despite these successes, soaring youth unemployment and inequality remain stubbornly persistent problems. In 2022, the country ranked a lowly 147 on gross domestic product (GDP) per person, a measure of living standards, according to the World Bank. 

To spur growth, the Modi government has begun a massive infrastructure transformation and heavily promoting digital connectivity — with Adani and Ambani becoming key allies. 

Both tycoons are considered vocal champions of Modi, and prominent politicians from opposition parties in India have often questioned Modi’s ties with India’s super-rich. 

Read the full analysis.  

CNN’s Jessie Yeung contributed to this report from Mumbai.  

Analysis: Is India's free press not so free after a decade of Modi?

Analysis from CNN’s Aishwarya S. Iyer 

India is one of the largest media markets in the world , according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), with more than 20,000 daily newspapers across the country and about 450 privately owned channels dedicated to news, which broadcast in dozens of languages. 

Yet despite its size and diversity, critics say the media industry is growing increasingly subservient to Modi’s government.  

“There was a blend of public service, public interest and corporate private media that served a burgeoning urban middle class, but also showed interest in issues of rural development. Journalists were respected… Regulatory mechanisms were weak but not completely absent,” said Shakuntala Banaji, media professor at the London School of Economics.  “They have been all but destroyed in the last 10 years.” 

India fell 25 places on the Press Freedom Index between 2015 and 2023, to 161st place — below neighboring Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. In the latest index for this year it rose slightly to 159th place but remains below all neighbors except Bangladesh (165th). 

“There has been a sharp deterioration in the status of media over the last 10 years,” Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) India representative Kunal Majumder told CNN, adding that this included imprisonment and invoking terror laws to criminalize journalists. 

There has also been an uptick, it said, in the use of anti-terror laws — which allow for detention without trial or charge for up to 180 days — against reporters. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not taken a single solo press conference in his decade-long rule. 

The government of the popular but divisive leader stands accused by opponents of suppressing media pluralism. 

Modi critics fear further erosion of the protections afforded to India’s free press if he is elected. 

Meet the winners of India's economic boom 

From CNN's Jessie Yeung, Priti Gupta and Esha Mitra 

More than 40% of India’s 1.4 billion people are under 25: a tech-savvy and mostly English-speaking labor force. Like millions of migrants, many of them are drawn to the country’s financial capital Mumbai, full of aspiration and ambition. And it’s stories like these that inspire them. 

The tech developer: Growing up in the slums of Mumbai, Javed Khatri never used a smartphone or computer.  

“In the region where I used to stay, one of the best things that one could think of was just to complete 10th grade, and then work at a call center or sell vegetables or work at a garage or do some kind of odd jobs,” says Khatri, now 30. “That was our topmost ambition.” 

But unlike many children in the slums, he completed 10th grade – the first person in four generations of his family to do so – then studied computer science at an engineering college.  

He is now building an online platform to connect tech firms with engineers. He moved his family out of the slum, and supports his parents. Both his siblings went to college and pursued their own careers. 

None of this would have been possible a generation ago, he says. 

The influencer: Apoorva Mukhija hadn’t planned to be a content creator, so after graduation she took a job with a tech firm in Bangalore, the southern city known as “India’s Silicon Valley.” 

“Then one day I just woke up, realized … (my job) just didn’t pay as well as content did, and I hated living in that city,” Mukhija, 22, tells CNN from a pastel-pink couch at her new apartment in Mumbai, which she says is her “dream city.” 

Her career has thrived, winning her recognition from local media and amassing 1.3 million Instagram followers. 

The internet holds a wealth of opportunities for young Indians. The country’s influencer marketing industry is expected to be worth more than $281 million in 2024, according to consultancy EY India. Smartphones and social media are fueling this growth.  

The shoemaker: At age 13, Jameel Shah ran away from his village in Bihar, India’s poorest state, where his father wasn’t earning enough from farming to send the kids to school.  

In Mumbai, he saw an opportunity in the expensive imported dance shoes required for dance classes. 

He took two samples back to the narrow alleys of Dharavi, a hub for leather and textile manufacturers. With their expertise, and his own experience working in bag and wallet factories, Shah began experimenting. 

The business grew, attracting stylists and choreographers who redistributed the shoes to dance studios. And they even made it onto the big screen. 

Almost two decades later, Shah Shoes has helped support his family. He’s bought a house for his parents and started an education center in his home village teaching literacy to those who can’t afford school. 

A key tool was the rise of social media, particularly Facebook, helping him find customers – which Shah credited to Prime Minister Modi’s push for a “digital India.” 

Read the full story.  

Analysis: Under Modi, India's military has grown stronger 

Analysis from CNN’s Brad Lendon 

India’s armed forces, the world’s second-largest in terms of personnel, have made big improvements in their abilities under Prime Minister Narendra Modi — but face challenges no matter who wins the election, an analyst said. 

Viraj Solanki, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the armed forces have centralized control under Modi while making improvements to joint operations based on the theater where forces are deployed, rather than what each service would like to do. 

Those include setting up integrated battle groups along the country’s borders with China and Pakistan, Solanki said. 

China, whose People’s Liberation Army is the world’s biggest military force, represents India’s biggest worry going forward, he said. 

“India’s ‘military clout’ remains clearly below China’s” and can be expected to remain so, especially since Beijing’s defense budget is three times as large as New Delhi’s, Solanki added.  

The Modi government has stepped up defense ties with the United States, Japan and Australia — members of the Quad partnership along with India — as a way to offset China’s advantages. 

But Solanki said improvements to the Indian military are hamstrung by two key factors. More than half of its defense budget is spent on personnel and pensions, and much of its hardware is of Russian or Soviet origin, meaning spare parts and upgrades may be in short supply as Moscow’s war in Ukraine soaks up those resources. 

Analysis: India has grown closer to US under Modi 

From CNN’s Rhea Mogul  

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was once shunned by the United States.  

Denied a visa for “severe violations of religious freedom,” he was effectively banned from entering the country for nearly a decade.  

But in the years since that ban was lifted, Modi has been progressively embraced by the White House. 

While the US has positioned itself as a democratic protector in an increasingly populist and polarized era, it has seemingly turned a blind eye to New Delhi’s alleged human rights abuses at home — where the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has come under scrutiny from rights groups and opposition lawmakers for its increasingly strident brand of Hindu nationalist politics and an ongoing crackdown on dissent. 

Modi and India, the world’s largest democracy, are necessarily a lynchpin in Biden’s strategy in Asia. As the world’s most populous country, no major global challenge, from climate change to advances in technology, can be addressed without India’s buy-in, in Biden’s view.   

Both New Delhi and Washington are becoming increasingly uneasy about Beijing’s growing military might, aggressive territorial claims on land and at sea, and growing economic influence over its smaller neighbors. 

In an era of growing tensions between the US and China, there are few partners that Biden is more eager to cultivate. 

What's changed since India's first election? 

From Esha Mitra in New Delhi 

India’s first general elections began in October 1951, four years after it gained independence from British rule, and soon after it became a republic in 1950.  

The election lasted about four months and the Indian National Congress emerged victorious in February 1952.  

Population boom: India then had a population of about 361 million people with 173 million registered electors.  

Since then, the population has increased nearly four-fold to 1.429 billion , with more than five times the number of eligible voters, according to the Election Commission of India. 

From paper to voting machines: In the first elections, Indians used paper ballots to cast their votes.  

Electronic voting machines were first used in the state of Kerala in 1982. But because there was no law prescribing their use, the Supreme Court struck down that election. In 1989 laws were amended to allow the use of voting machines after consensus was reached.  

In recent years, the validity of voting machines has again been questioned — this time by opposition parties that say they are being misused to favor the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — an allegation the BJP denies. 

In an India divided by prosperity and poverty, whose dreams come true?

From CNN's Jessie Yeung, Priti Gupta and Esha Mitra

At 7 a.m., Rupali Rao Kilare starts getting ready for the day in the cramped home she shares with five family members.

Though the sun has long risen, some alleys remain pitch dark as she weaves through the slum where she lives in Mumbai’s Goregaon West neighborhood, its narrow walls wedged between tightly packed buildings that block the light.

Kilare, 22, must hurry to beat the crowds at the slum’s communal toilets, before taking a three-wheeled auto-rickshaw to her boss’ home for her cleaning shift.

Just 3 miles (about 5 kilometers) away in Goregaon East, Shreya Verma, 26, stirs awake in her air-conditioned bedroom, pulls back the curtains and takes in the view of greenery and high-rise buildings.

Throwing on a blazer and heels, she hops in an Uber to her marble-floored office at an international tech firm.

Though the two women are separated by only a few years in age and a 20-minute drive, their starkly different lives illustrate India’s deepening wealth divide – and the inequality that has empowered some to reach new heights alongside the country’s fast-growing economy, while others are left behind.

That inequality has come under particular scrutiny during India's election.

Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been credited with advancing India’s $3.7 trillion economy and bringing the country closer to becoming a global superpower, India remains a largely impoverished nation and its wealth gap is more unequal than it was during British rule.

Read the full story.

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EU struggles to counter Russian election disinformation

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• European Union voters set to elect new European Parliament
• EU is fighting what it says is Russian disinformation
• Russia denies using disinformation to influence opinion
• Potential impact of disinformation is hard to gauge

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Reporting by Julia Payne, additional reporting by Jan Lopatka, Anan Koper, John Irish, David Latona and Sarah Marsh; Editing by Richard Lough and Timothy Heritage

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