Australia and India have solidified a significant step forward in their diplomatic relations, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have inked a new deal ensuring the export of uranium from Australia to India. This development comes as part of Modi’s ongoing visit to Australia, with the leader of the world’s most populous nation further strengthening bilateral ties.
Prime Minister Albanese, addressing the media in Canberra, confirmed, “Today we can confirm the signing of the administrative arrangement to export uranium to India for peaceful purposes under the 2015 Australia-India nuclear cooperative agreement.”
This agreement paves the way for Australian uranium to play a critical role in boosting India’s share of non-fossil fuel power capacity. It thereby opens an additional market for the Australian resources sector, an outcome beneficial for both economies.
The foundation for this partnership was laid in 2015 when an agreement permitted Australian companies to commercially export uranium to India. While India’s nuclear armament posed challenges to Australia’s strict nuclear safeguards, both nations agreed that uranium exports would only be used for peaceful objectives.
Emphasizing the importance of the relationship, Albanese described India as a “top-tier” security partner. He outlined several commitments that highlight their mutual ambition for a stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific. Among them is the crafting of a Memorandum of Understanding concerning the provision of defense services, in addition to joint efforts to return culturally significant remains held in institutions across both countries.
Among the new measures, Albanese announced a temporary space-tracking terminal on Cocos Keeling Islands will support India’s Human Space Flight program, which aims to send humans into space by 2027.
Australia will also re-award permanent major project status for Project Ceres, a urea manufacturing development in Karratha in Western Australia — producing nitrogen-based fertilizer to address disruptions in the global supply chain by the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz.
Modi’s stadium tour
Not many world leaders can sell out an arena during an international diplomatic visit.
But tens of thousands of members of the Indian diaspora throughout Australia are expected to make their way to Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium on Thursday night for a glimpse of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Modi arrived in Australia on Wednesday for a three-day trip as part of the Australia-India Annual Leaders’ Summit, where he will meet with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
A group of supporters of the Khalistan movement gathered to protest Modi’s visit, outside an event at Government House on Thursday.
The Khalistan movement broadly advocates for a separate homeland for Sikhs, and has faced suppression by the Indian government.
During previous visits, Modi made public appearances in Sydney, drawing crowds of thousands of people.
This time, accompanied by Albanese, he will speak at a booked-out event in Melbourne, which is home to the largest Indian population in Australia.
Canberra India Council chair Deepak-Raj Gupta is travelling to Melbourne with his wife and friends to attend as many Modi-related events as possible.
Modi is one of three types of people who are “very popular” in his homeland, 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.”
In Melbourne, Modi is also expected to meet leaders from top Australian companies as well as visit the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
A ‘significant’ visit
Pradeep Taneja, a senior lecturer in Asian politics at the University of Melbourne, said Modi’s visit will be “significant” and “unprecedented”.
“No other Indian prime minister has been to Australia three times during his term in office,” he told SBS News.
“The security relationship between Australia and India has grown much faster than I think other dimensions of the relationship. Australia now regards India as a top-tier — and I quote here, top-tier is the Australian government’s language — a top-tier security partner.”
India, which has been led by Modi since 2014, established a landmark comprehensive strategic partnership with Australia in 2020, which aimed to strengthen education and defence co-operation, along with protecting neighbouring maritime space.
Australia India Institute chief executive Lisa Singh said Modi’s visit would be an important time for deepening the partnership, which builds on a smaller 2009 deal.
“We could see more establishing of [deals] in defence ties,” she said.
“We want to combine our complementary strengths as two maritime democracies.
“One of the ways we want to do that is to boost defence literacy and industrial ties, particularly in areas of education.”
Conversations about increased tertiary study arrangements, information sharing and naval exercises are also expected to feature.
The visit comes following a long-range missile test by China in the South Pacific this week after limited notice from Beijing — a move that could prompt India and Australia to strengthen their trading ties, given the reliance of both economies on China for trade.
The trading relationship between Australia and India is worth more than $50 billion.
Last year, people born in India became the largest overseas-born group in Australia, narrowly overtaking those born in England, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Of the 8.83 million Australian residents born overseas, 971,020 were born in India as of 30 June 2025.
Rajan Katkam, who is planning to attend the event, told SBS News he feels “proud” of India’s development under Modi, and “we are going to witness our prime minister Modi”, adding that “he is inspiring the whole world”.
“We are proud to be here,” he said. “We missed the event in Sydney, so that motivated us to come to Melbourne.”
A popular but controversial leader
During Modi’s last visit in 2023, he received a rockstar reception at Sydney’s SuperDome at Olympic Park.
Albanese faced backlash from parts of the Indian diaspora and human rights advocates after introducing his Indian counterpart as “the boss” and remarking that Bruce Springsteen was the last person he’d seen on stage at the stadium, adding that the rock icon “didn’t get the welcome that Prime Minister Modi got”.
Human rights groups such as Amnesty International have condemned Modi what they describe as declines in India’s living standards and the targeting of journalists and academics through anti-terror legislation.
Amnesty International says religious minorities in India, including Muslims and Christians, have also been targeted under the rule of Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
Ahead of Modi’s visit, Daniela Gavshon, Australia director at Human Rights Watch, told SBS Spice it would be “really important that the Australian government acknowledge that Prime Minister Modi has been leading a government that has been sliding into authoritarianism”.
“Whether they’re able to do that overtly will obviously be a question for the government and the government will need to do that carefully.
“The reality is, we are seeing and have seen for many years now escalating human rights violations in India.”
She said Albanese had “ignored those” during Modi’s last visit, which “felt to many that he was turning a blind eye to the realities of the human rights violations in India”.
— With additional reporting by AAP