PM's visit to Australia, Fiji : Sangh affiliates kept out of organisational duties

The last Indian PM to visit Fiji was Indira Gandhi (1981), while the last to visit Australia was Rajiv Gandhi (1986)

During visits to Australia and Fiji in the third week of November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address sizable gatherings of the Indian diaspora. Unlike the PM’s Madison Square Garden address in New York, for which Sangh Parivar affiliates were seen to be at the fore of organising the event, this time, associations of Indians in those countries have been entrusted with putting these  together.

The assessment within the government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is though hugely successful, the PM’s Madison Square Garden address was painted in some quarters as a partisan event, as the Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP) and the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) were seen to have anchored it. Indian embassy officials in New York were forced to prod decision makers in New Delhi to include non-resident Indians from all linguistic groups and religions.

The OFBJP and the HSS are arms of the BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, respectively, to connect with the Indian diaspora.

In Australia and Fiji, the effort is to reach all sections of non-resident Indians, including Christians and Muslims. “Modi isn’t the PM of one particular community but all Indians. We need to put forth this message and engage more vigorously with the Indian diaspora to strengthen our soft diplomacy,” said a BJP leader.

The PM is scheduled to visit Myanmar to attend the East Asia summit scheduled for November 11 and 12, followed by the G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia, on November 15 and 16. While returning from Australia on November 19, he is likely to spend a day in Fiji.

Sources in the BJP and the external affairs ministry said the visit to Fiji was still in the works. However, Fiji Sun, a leading Fijian newspaper, on Thursday reported, “India’s rock star” PM was likely to visit the Fijian capital, Suva.

The previous Indian PM to visit Fiji was Indira Gandhi (1981), and to Australia was Rajiv Gandhi (1986).

In Australia, the PM, after completing his engagements at the G20 summit, will be in Sydney on November 17, where he will address a gathering of 15,000 members of the Indian diaspora at the main arena of the Sydney Olympic Park, the largest indoor event space in that city.

Last week, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav was in Australia to coordinate with the Indian community there in this regard. He attended the vibrant Diwali Mela in Melbourne and interacted with community leaders to give shape to the November 17 event, to be held under the auspices of the India Australia Community Foundation.

It is being ensured the PM’s public addresses, both in Australia and Fiji, are organised under the auspices of the larger Indian community, not a Sangh Parivar affiliate or an outfit identified with a particular region, caste, religion or linguistic group. “Our effort is to bring all sections of the Indian community to participate in the event,” Madhav told Business Standard.

About 300 Indian diaspora associations have already expressed interest to be part of the event, and 21,000 people have registered to attend it; registrations are open till the end of this month. Indians from Adelaide, Melbourne and other cities are likely to attend. Those from Melbourne, home to the largest concentration of the Indian diaspora in Australia, have put in place plans to travel to Sydney on the ‘Modi Express’, a special train.

Australia has about half a million people of Indian origin, including 30,000 students. It is home to the fourth-largest community of Indians abroad, after the US, the UK and Canada.

Modi is scheduled to address the Australian parliament on November 18. Unlike the event in New York, where several US Congress and Senate members were present, only a few Australian MPs will attend Modi’s address the event on November 17. Chinese President Xi Jinping is slated to address the Australian parliament that day.

Sources said several provincial politicians would attend Modi’s address at the Sydney Olympic Park.

About 38 per cent of Fiji’s population comprises people of India origin, primarily descendents of indentured labourers taken to Fiji from modern-day Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, during the late 19th century.