NewDelhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese will on Thursday (March 9, 2023) watch the first day of the fourth Test between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Over 1,00,000 spectators are expected to attend the final match of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Ahmedabad police have deployed more than 3,000 cops to guard the stadium as well as surrounding areas in the city.
Albanese, who is on his first visit to India at the invitation of the Indian Prime Minister, is scheduled to arrive in Ahmedabad on Wednesday evening, while Modi will arrive late evening.
The two leaders would leave after watching the match for a few hours.
Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, and other dignitaries may also join Albanese and Modi.
Rohit Sharma-led India is eyeing to win the match and clinch the Test series 3-1 to book a second successive World Test Championship final berth.
Earlier in the day, ahead of his visit, Anthony Albanese said he was keen to further deepen Australia’s multifaceted relationship with India at a time of extraordinary growth and dynamism, especially in areas of trade, security and people-to-people links.
Albanese is accompanied by a delegation of ministers and business leaders during his four-day trip.
After Ahmedabad, he will visit Mumbai on Thursday before arriving in New Delhi later in the day.
“This trip demonstrates our commitment to deepening our links with India, and to being a force for stability and growth in our region. We have a historic opportunity to strengthen our relationship with India, at a time of extraordinary growth and dynamism in our region,” Albanese said.
He added that Australia is a better place because of its large, diverse Indian-Australian community.
“Australia and India have a rich friendship, underpinned by our common interests, our shared democratic values, the bonds between our people, and an affectionate but fierce sporting rivalry,? he said.
“This is an important visit. It will be my fourth meeting with Prime Minister Modi. One of the first things I did as Prime Minister was travel to the Quad Leaders Meeting in Tokyo last year. Australia and India are important partners. We share common values. We are both vibrant democracies. We have an interest in improving our economic relations,” he said in a statement.
Albanese said he will attend the G20 meeting when it is hosted in India and will host the Quad leaders meeting in Australia in the first half of this year with Prime Minister Modi, his Japanese counterpart Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and US President Joe Biden.
Bureau Report
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