Melbourne, July 7 (AHN) Members of the Indian community in Melbourne on Tuesday conducted a 'Vedic Havan' for Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his visit to Australia this week.

Hailing PM Modi’s leadership, an Indian community member told AHN, “Prime Minister Modi has unique aura…He has received the highest honour awards from 34 countries... Wherever he goes in the world, he takes India with him. He takes 144 crore people with him and represents them. Wherever he goes, he talks about the country and does what is good for the country.”

The 'havan', he said, was being conducted for the long life of PM Modi.

“We Indians love and respect him a lot. That's why we organised this prayer for him. When we found out that Modi ji was coming, we told the people of AIF (Australia India Foundation), that before he comes, we want to organise this havan for Modiji's long life, We are praying for his long life, he should remain in good health always,” the diaspora member said.

Another member highlighted that the respect for the Indian community Down Under has increased by many times just because of PM Modi.

“All the governments are gradually increasing their support for the Indian community organisations here... That respect has increased many times since Modi ji came and because of the friendship that he extended,” he highlighted.

A community member also welcomed the steps taken by PM Modi for Indians living abroad.

“Whatever steps Modiji has taken so far, not only for those staying in Australia but all over the world, we welcome them," he said.

Meanwhile, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Melbourne, India's High Commissioner to Australia, Nagesh Singh, expressed the commitment of both nations to a free, open, peaceful, rule-based international order and Indo-Pacific.

In an interview with AHN, India's High Commissioner to Australia, Nagesh Singh, highlighted the tremendous enthusiasm across Australia about PM Modi's address at the Indian community event in Melbourne.

"There is a community event at Marvel Arena and you know that the Prime Minister is very popular. In Victoria State, I don't know the exact figures yet, but a senior politician here told me that there can be 5 to 7 lakh people who live in Victoria State, whose capital is Melbourne. In this event, it is our assumption that 25 to 30,000 people will participate and both the Prime Ministers will address the public and there is a lot of enthusiasm for this, because I have seen how people are coming from all over Australia, because Australia is a very big country," said Singh.

"So, people want to come here from all the states. Organisers have not been able to accommodate many people because there is limited space there. So this is a very important event and both the Prime Ministers will speak. People's enthusiasm increases when Modi ji speaks, they want to listen to him. You may remember that when the PM came here a few years ago, there was a similar event in Sydney, where Prime Minister Albanese called Prime Minister Modi 'the boss' because of the vibrancy and enthusiasm of the event. So, there will be a similar event here and I think it will be more than that this time," he added.

The Indian diplomat stressed that both countries share a "value-based relationship" and continue to work on having a rule-based international order and Indo-Pacific.

"Our two countries have same values. We want a free, open, peaceful, rule-based international order and Indo-Pacific. The objectives of both nations are same. We are democracies, multicultural, multi-ethnic societies. We take pride in our diversity, in our pluralism, in every sense. So, this value-based relationship brings us closer to each other. It is based on a solid foundation. We want peace and development. We don't want to attack or suppress anyone. Both the countries want to follow our developmental objectives, not just for ourselves, but for our regions, be it in South Asia, or here in the Pacific. Both the countries want peace and stability to prevail."

–AHN

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