Indian democracy comes up for praise as Modi meets Biden, Albanese in Hiroshima
File photo
During the Quad meeting in Japan's Hiroshima on Saturday (May 20), United States President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi how popular he is in their countries. Modi is scheduled to visit Australia and the US soon. Biden and Albanese told the Indian PM that they were facing multiple requests from prominent citizens to attend events where the Indian PM would be speaking.
During Saturday's meeting, Biden came up to Modi and told him he had been facing a challenge with a deluge of requests from prominent citizens to attend his (Modi's) programmes during his visit to Washington DC next month.
“You are causing me a real problem. Next month we have a dinner for you in Washington. Everyone in the whole country wants to come. I have run out of tickets. You think I am kidding? Ask my team. I am getting phone calls from people I have never heard of before. Everyone from movie actors to relatives. You are too popular,” Biden told Modi.
"You are demonstrating that democracies matter," Biden added.
I should take your autograph: Biden tells Modi
Echoing the US president's views, Australian Prime Minister Albanese said he too was finding it difficult to accommodate all the requests he had been getting for a community event in Sydney on Tuesday that Modi would be addressing. Albanese pointed out that the Sydney venue has a capacity of 20,000, and he was still unable to accommodate the requests he was getting.
The Australian prime minister alsoremembered how at the Narendra Modi stadium,more than 90,000 people welcomed him during the victory lap.To this, Biden told Modi in a lighter vein that he should take his autograph.
In March this year,Modi and Albanese were at the Narendra Modi stadium to watch an India-Australia test match.
On Tuesday, Modi will interact with Australian business leaders and Indian expats at the community event in Sydney. Later, on June 22, US President Biden would host the Indian prime minister when the latter will be on an official state visit to Washington.
"President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Republic of India for an Official State Visit to the United States, which will include a state dinner, on June 22, 2023. The upcoming visit will affirm the deep and close partnership between the United States and India and the warm bonds of family and friendship that link Americans and Indians together, " the White House said in a statement on May 10.
Quad leaders' veiled swipe at China
Meanwhile, on Saturday, the Quad leaders- Australia, India, Japan and the United States, took a veiled swipe at China during their meeting in Hiroshima. According to a report by the news agency AFP,Biden did not mention China by name but the country was the target of language in a joint statement calling for “peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific maritime domain”.
“We strongly oppose destabilizing or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion,” the statement said, using diplomatic language that appeared to refer to Beijing’s economic tactics to gain leverage over poorer countries and also its military expansion in the Pacific.
(With inputs from agencies)
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