'Potential for our two countries is huge'

SYDNEY: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Georgina Hope Rinehart AO, Executive Chairman of Hancock Prospecting on Tuesday (local time) in Sydney, Australia. The Prime Minister is on a three-day visit to Australia to attend a bilateral meeting with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese. PM Modi is on the last leg of his three-nation tour after participating G7 summit in Japan and visiting Papua New Guinea.

At their bilateral meeting, the leaders will discuss trade and investment, including efforts to boost trade between the two countries through a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement and work to strengthen people-to-people links, renewable energy, and defence and security cooperation, said the official statement released by the Australian government. In an interaction with media persons after meeting with Prime Minister Modi, Georgina Hope Rinehart AO said, "It (meeting) was very interesting. It was actually exciting. The potential for our two countries is huge."

Talking along the lines of how India's economy has grown, she said, "Your economy was around USD 1-trillion GDP and USD 2 trillion in seven years and at the starting of that was under Prime Minister Modi." "In the last five years under Modi, your economy has grown to USD 3.5 trillion and the plans for the next 25 years, for your country, to grow to is USD 32 trillion," she said, adding, "So, the growth recently has been huge. The growth in the future is going to be huge."

The Executive Chairman said Australia really needs to work harder to develop its relations with India. "You're destined to look at the investments that have flowed into India and I think it's from 60 different countries," she added. She also said Prime Minister Modi came to office on a very important mind track, which was from red tape to red carpet, in other words cutting approvals, cutting regulations so "you can welcome investments and that is what he wants to do for his country".