Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in Ahmedabad to celebrate the cultural links between Australia and India with a visit for the opening of the fourth cricket test.
PM Albanese is going to watch cricket with India’s PM Modi for an hour before the pair will head to official meetings to discuss furthering trade ties.
A journalist asked PM Albanese if he will be the best-known Prime Minister of Australia in India as he is going to watch a match with India’s most popular PM.
PM Albanese replied: “that’s for others to judge.”
“But certainly, I’m very honoured – not for myself, for Australia. It says how valued the relationship with Australia is that the Government of India and Prime Minister Modi have put such a major effort into making us feel so welcome.”
Further, on being asked how he feels about seeing hundreds of huge billboards with his face on them around the streets, PM Albanese quipped:
“It is hard to not have noticed them, yes.”
This cricketing event is important as both nations are celebrating 75 years of test cricket between Australia and India.
PM Albanese told the media:
“I know so many Australians have travelled to India, just like so many back home will be watching on TV, cheering on the Australian cricket team during this test.”
He added that it is also a day for business:
“We have a significant business delegation in Mumbai engaging with their Indian counterparts across the finance, across resources, across clean energy, across universities, and information technology, across the full gamut of service provision as well, including health service provision. And it’s very important that we cement those ties even further.”
PM Albanese added that towards the end of this year, his government is looking forward to an upgrade in the economic relationship between Australia and India.
“Already this morning, I’ve met with 34 smart energy companies who are here from Australia, providing significant investment, seizing the opportunity that is there. One of the things that we discussed was the fact that there’s a lot of investment ready as well in Australia to build solar panels in Australia.”
PM Albanese’s Australian business delegation will be travelling from Mumbai to Delhi to show how serious CEOs of major Australian companies are in taking this relationship with India forward.
