‘Melbourne meets Modi’: Around 30,000 people gather for PM Modi's address at Marvel Stadium | WATCH

Around 30,000 people gathered at Marvel Stadium for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the Indian diaspora in Melbourne on Thursday. At the community event, Australian PM Anthony Albanese stood next to PM Modi, honouring the national anthems of India and Australia.

PM Modi and Albanese then shared a hug.

According to the news agency ANI, the event is perhaps the largest of its kind ever held in Australia by any leader.

The Indian diaspora was very enthusiastic to see PM Modi.

Speaking with ANI, Madan Palsule, a member of the Indian diaspora, said, “PM Modi is a dynamic and charismatic leader... We are all excited, and we are presenting an Indian drama based on Shivaji's life... and we look forward to performing in front of PM Modi.”

“We welcome PM Modi here... I am waiting for him along with numerous other members of the Indian diaspora... We hope that Indian leaders keep coming here... We listen to him despite living abroad...” said another Indian.

India-Australia relationship

India and Australia have grown considerably closer in recent years, a relationship partly driven by a shared desire to keep Beijing's military ambitions in check while cultivating trade ties outside China.

"It's historically been quite a difficult relationship, given India and Australia's differing positions during the Cold War," AFP quoted Teesta Prakash from the Australia India Institute.

"But now we are in a starkly different strategic environment."

Securing a reliable uranium pipeline is expected to be a key topic of discussion when Modi sits down with his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, on Thursday.

India, the world's most populous country with 1.4 billion people, has plans to drastically expand its nuclear power capacity.

And mining giant Australia is estimated to hold as much as 28 percent of the world's uranium resource, according to the World Nuclear Association.

India and Australia entered into a nuclear cooperation agreement in 2015 that paved the way for uranium exports, but legal hurdles remain, and trade today is largely nonexistent.

"Uranium has always been a hot topic between Australia and India," Prakash told AFP. “Historically, India has been asking to have Australia ship it to India. But is Australia willing to do that?”

With ambitions to corner the electric vehicle market, India is also on the lookout for critical minerals such as lithium, a resource Australia has in abundance.

Australia, India, the United States and Japan are members of the Quad, a group seen as a counterweight to China in the Asia-Pacific region.

But with the United States seemingly less interested in the alliance, New Delhi and Canberra have shown an increasing willingness to work one-to-one on defence matters.

(With agency inputs)