‘Our politicians jealous of him’: Australian leader after PM Modi's visit

Australian leader of Opposition Peter Dutton said that his country's politicians are “jealous” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Australian leader of Opposition Peter Dutton said that his country's politicians are “jealous” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi - referring to the latter's recent visit which saw a massive amount of crowd at an event in Sydney. Addressing the Australian Parliament on Thursday, Dutton said that he “acknowledges the work of the Indian community in hosting PM Modi”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Indian diaspora in Sydney on Tuesday. (ANI)

“There were lots of people in attendance from both sides of politics, but I said to the Prime Minister this morning that every politician there last night was jealous of the fact that he was able to get 20,000 people chanting his surname in unison on the other side of the world, mainly at Labour Party functions,” Dutton said.

PM Modi received a rousing welcome from the Indian diaspora crowd who chanted slogans like ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, ‘Vande Mataram’, and ‘Modi, Modi’.

Speaking on the relationship with India, Dutton said, “It was quite extraordinary and productive when his government was in power."

On May 23, PM Modi visited Sydney as part of the third and final leg of his three-nation visit after concluding his visit to Papua New Guinea. This was his first visit to Australia in nine years.

During the mega event, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called PM Modi “the boss” as he compared the crowd for PM Modi to legendary rockstar Bruce Springsteen - who is incidentally known as “The Boss” among his fans.

“The last time I saw someone on this stage was Bruce Springsteen and he did not get the welcome that Prime Minister Modi has got. Prime Minister Modi is the boss,” he said.

(With inputs from ANI)