Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi clinched a uranium supply deal for his country’s nuclear energy future on Thursday while visiting Australia, where he fronted tens of thousands of cheering supporters in a stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Faced with an almost-insatiable appetite for electricity in the world’s most populous nation, Modi has outlined plans to substantially scale up nuclear power generation in coming years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Australia lays claim to around 28 percent of the world’s uranium resource, but legal hurdles and political sensitivities have hindered exports to India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We have signed an important agreement today on nuclear energy,” Modi said after talks with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese in Melbourne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This will pave the way for uranium supplies from Australia to India and give our clean energy objectives fresh momentum.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A joint statement said the arrangement allowed long-term uranium exports for “exclusively peaceful purposes”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The exports would fall under safeguards established by the International Atomic Energy Agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The arrangement facilitates Australian uranium exports to India, to help increase the share of non-fossil fuel power capacity,” Albanese told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India and Australia entered a nuclear cooperation agreement in 2015 that paved the way for uranium exports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two countries have grown considerably closer in recent years, partly driven by a joint desire to keep Beijing’s military ambitions in check while cultivating trading partners outside China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the evening, Modi received a rock-star welcome from nearly 30,000 cheering and applauding fans from the Australian-Indian community who packed into the Marvel Stadium for a “Melbourne Meets Modi” event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Australia’s prime minister and his “very dear friend” Modi hugged and held their joined hands aloft before addressing spectators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Australians of all backgrounds have been enriched by your bringing your culture here and adding it to our multicultural character — we are a better nation because we have you in it,” Albanese told them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Modi promised the adoring crowd: “A new phase of India and Australia partnership is about to start.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Australia’s prime minister has previously referred to Modi as “The Boss”, joking that he could pull bigger crowds than US rock icon Bruce Springsteen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the first time on record, the biggest group of Australian residents born overseas came from India, statistics for last year showed in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“In 2014, the Indian diaspora community in Australia was relatively small,” said Teesta Prakash from the Australia India Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“But in 2026, it is now the largest diaspora community within Australia. It has outstripped the British, which is a huge demographic change,” she told AFP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Modi’s visit stirred up opposition, too, including criticism that he has fostered a dangerous brand of Hindu nationalism at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Australia’s Alliance Against Islamophobia called for a protest outside the stadium event, drawing attention to what it said was the persecution of minority groups in India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anti-immigration protesters also gathered ahead of the rally, holding placards calling to “put Australians first”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In their talks, Modi and Albanese agreed to strengthen defence cooperation and to bolster supply chains for critical minerals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two nations would build a “temporary space tracking terminal” on Australia’s Cocos Keeling Islands in the Indian Ocean, which will support Indian space flight projects, according to a joint statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Modi is scheduled to fly to New Zealand after Australia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi clinched a uranium supply deal for his country’s nuclear energy future on Thursday while visiting Australia, where he fronted tens of thousands of cheering supporters in a stadium. Faced with an almost-insatiable appetite for electricity in the world’s most populous nation, Modi has outlined plans to substantially scale up nuclear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":255,"featured_media":89817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[106,116],"tags":[12410,8089],"class_list":["post-89820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia","category-pacific","tag-australie-en","tag-india-2"],"yoast_head":"\n