Modi and Albanese to ink major uranium deal as Indian leader’s visit expected to draw 30,000-strong crowd

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese walks with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi during Modi’s three-day visit. Photograph: Jesse Thompson/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese walks with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi during Modi’s three-day visit. Photograph: Jesse Thompson/Getty Images Modi and Albanese to ink major uranium deal as Indian leader’s visit expected to draw 30,000-strong crowd Ahead of Modi’s Marvel Stadium event, Anthony Albanese credits Indian PM’s ‘leadership and personal engagement with Australia’ for strength of bilateral relationship Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Anthony Albanese is poised to sign a major uranium deal with India, praising counterpart Narendra Modi and the nation’s diaspora for deepening economic ties. It could end more than a decade of delays to regular shipments of the fuel despite the two countries signing a historic nuclear cooperation pact. The Indian prime minister is in the country for three days and will later on Thursday address 30,000 members of the Indian-Australian community in what is expected to be a loud rally at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium. Speaking at a business event in the city alongside Modi, Albanese said for all the “broad affection between our peoples” the relationship between the countries was “underdone, under-explored and under-examined”. “In the last decade or so, that has certainly changed for the better,” the prime minister said. “Prime minister Modi, your leadership and your personal engagement with Australia has been absolutely central to this change. “And so has the drive and determination of the business leaders in this room.” While details of the proposed nuclear pact are thin, Australia and India signed a civil nuclear deal in 2014 but regular shipments of uranium haven’t occurred amid concerns the fuel could be used for weapons. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email While few national leaders can lay claim to drawing a crowd of tens of thousands during an international diplomatic visit, Modi is an exception. The Indian diaspora throughout Australia are making their way to Melbourne in large numbers for a glimpse of the leader of the world’s most populous nation. Modi was one of three types of people who were “very popular” in his homeland, Canberra India Council chair Deepak-Raj Gupta said. “Politicians, Bollywood stars and cricket players,’’ he said. “It doesn’t really matter who you are if you fall into one of those.” Gupta has travelled to Melbourne with his wife and a contingent of friends to attend as many Modi-related events as possible. But Modi is also one of the world’s most polarising political leaders. skip past newsletter promotion after newsletter promotion Human rights groups such as Amnesty International have condemned him for declines in India’s living standards, including targeting of journalists and academics