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12-07-2026
SYDNEY: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese in Melbourne on Thursday, with the two leaders expected to discuss critical minerals, trade, defence and security cooperation.
Modi, who previously visited Australia in 2023, touched down Wednesday night to a red-carpet welcome in Melbourne, where he will also meet some of the country’s top business executives.
A report in the Australian Financial Review on Wednesday said an agreement on uranium exports to India could be finalized. Though both nations agreed a nuclear cooperation pact in 2014, the export of uranium has been limited over concerns about ensuring nuclear fuel is solely used for peaceful purposes, such as energy generation.
When asked about a possible uranium exports deal, Albanese told reporters on Wednesday that he would have “more to say about that with Prime Minister Modi” but “we’ve engaged constructively, and so I look forward to there’ll be a range of announcements that we make together.”
India is Australia’s fifth-largest trading partner after China, Japan, the US and South Korea, while around 1 million people in Australia claim Indian ancestry.
Modi is expected to meet thousands of expatriate Indians at an event in one of the biggest sports stadiums in Melbourne on Thursday evening. Security has been tightened near the stadium after reports of some protests, Australian media said.
The Indian leader is known to put up big shows during his overseas trips and has addressed packed stadiums in the UK, the United States and other countries that have large expatriate Indian populations.
Thousands of supporters thronged one of Sydney’s biggest indoor stadiums during his last visit three years ago. Modi arrived in Australia after visiting Indonesia, where he signed a raft of deals on agriculture and defence, including for the BrahMos cruise missile system. He will leave for New Zealand on Friday afternoon before returning to India.
Earlier, Indonesia and India on Tuesday signed a raft of deals on critical minerals, agriculture and defence, including for the BrahMos cruise missile system, the Indonesian presidential palace said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Prabowo Subianto as part of a visit to Indonesia, his first trip to the Southeast Asian country since 2023, and the pair reaffirmed their regional commitments.
“We’re two of the largest democracies in the world,” Prabowo said. “Partnerships between us will bring benefits to the region.”
BrahMos, an India-Russia joint venture missile manufacturer, and Indonesia’s defence ministry signed a contract for the BrahMos missile defense system, according to an announcement by the Indonesian palace in Jakarta, which provided no details. Media reported earlier on Tuesday that India will supply the BrahMos cruise missile system and the Astra air-to-air missile to Indonesia, citing an Indian government official. Indian sources earlier told media that the deal was worth around $630 million.
In 2023, BrahMos said it was in advanced discussions with Indonesia on a deal worth between $200 million and $350 million for its missile systems. It has already signed deals with neighbors Vietnam and the Philippines.
Separately, Indonesia’s Republikorp, a defence private holding company and India-based defence company Bharat Dynamics signed an agreement on air-to-air missiles, the palace announced.
The countries also signed memorandums of understanding for strengthening supply chains in critical minerals and steel, as well as agriculture.
