By Jai Bharadwaj and Amit Sarwal
After a gap of nine years Indian Australian diaspora is gearing up to welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Sydney on 23 May.
The Australia Today can reveal a massive community reception “Australia Welcomes Modi” is scheduled at Qudos Bank Arena Stadium in Sydney with a capacity of 21,000 people.
Indian Australian Diaspora Foundation (IADF)
Indian Australian Diaspora Foundation (IADF) is a specially created not-for-profit organization that is bringing together Indian-Australian organizations and institutions to encourage collaboration for welcoming PM Modi.
Sydney-based prominent Indian Australian Prof. Nihal Agar is heading the IADF, he was also one of the key persons organising the reception for PM Modi’s last visit to Australia.
The Australia Today is given to understand that more than 300 social, cultural, business and religious organisations have registered as ‘welcome partners’ for the reception from NSW, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, ACT, NT and Queensland.
All welcome partners have the opportunity to invite their members to register their interest for free passes to this historic event before it opens to the general public.
They have been provided with a unique code that is exclusive to members of their organisation and is to be entered during the online member registration process. This code SHOULD NOT be forwarded or shared with anyone who is not a member of their organisation.
Any person registering will require Unique details for each member of the family/group that is applying for an invitation. The name of an office bearer/senior member from the organisation that can verify their membership or association.
Some rules are defined by IADF
- A maximum of 1 + 4 = 5 people can be registered at one time.Groups/families who would like to sit together must register together.
- A parent or guardian must accompany all children under the age of 16 during the event.
- Registration alone DOES NOT guarantee you a pass.
- You will need to present a physical or online Pass (if successful) and government-issued photo identification for entry into the venue. If details do not match, entry will be denied.
- Invitations are NOT transferable.
- There will be a multi-step verification and re-confirmation process before the event.
- Please DO NOT try to register yourself MULTIPLE times using the same or different codes. If you attempt to do this, you and any individuals that register with you may be DISQUALIFIED from the process and lose your chance of getting a pass.
- Any abuse of the process, including input of incorrect or false information, will also result in disqualification.
Registration deadline with Organisation Code: 11:59 PM, 29 April 2023.
A highly placed source within IADF has told The Australia Today that the event is free of cost for all individuals and that all expenses of this event will be covered by donations and sponsorship.
People who do not want to register via welcome partner will get a chance to do so once the deadline for organisations has ended.
IADF has decided to make it a bigger and better experience for Indian Australians travelling from Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane.
‘Modi Express’ a special train from Melbourne to Sydney was a highlight in the last edition of the Indian Prime Minister’s visit
The Australia Today can reveal a chartered flight has been arranged as “Modi Express” along with a Train and car convoy travelling with Indian and Australian flags.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be travelling to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia from May 20 to 24.
On May 22, PM Modi will travel to Papua New Guinea for Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation Summit (India Pacific summit).
This forum consists of 14 Pacific Islands — Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu with India at the head of state/ government level.
In 2014, Fiji’s capital Suva organised the first summit however the second summit was organised in the Indian pink city of Jaipur in 2015.
This is the first-ever visit of Indian PM Modi to the country which is the second largest country in the Oceania region after Australia.
PM Modi was the first Indian prime minister to visit Australia in 28 years in 2014. That time he promised Indian Australians that they wouldn’t have to wait so long again.
However it has taken almost nine years for PM Modi to come back to Australia due to global disruptions. He told in his previous visit, “Australia will not be at the periphery of our vision but at the centre of our thoughts.”