Melbourne's Indian Community Packs Marvel Stadium for Modi as Local Leader Wins Order of Australia
Melbourne's Indian diaspora community found itself in the spotlight twice this week: a massive sold-out public reception for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Marvel Stadium drew warm praise from Victoria's Premier Jacinta Allan, while veteran Indian community leader Chethicad Oommen Thomas was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his decades of service.
🗳️ Victoria Premier praises Indian community as Modi event sells out Marvel Stadium
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Melbourne generated an extraordinary outpouring of enthusiasm from the city's Indian diaspora, with tickets to the public event at Marvel Stadium selling out entirely. Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan attended and used the occasion to deliver a pointed statement of political and cultural solidarity. "India is a country we trust," Allan said, according to Firstpost's reporting — words that were widely received as reflecting the deepening ties between Victoria and India across trade, education and migration. The Premier's remarks were directed both at the Indian-Australian community members gathered in the stadium and at a broader public audience watching the visit unfold. Modi's Melbourne stop came at a moment when the city's Indian-born population has grown into one of Australia's largest and most visible diaspora communities. The event was framed as a celebration not only of the bilateral Australia-India relationship but of what Melbourne's Indian community itself has built in Victoria over decades. For Indian-Australians in the city, the sold-out nature of the Marvel Stadium event was itself a statement of how large and engaged the community has become. The high-profile reception for an Indian prime minister in Melbourne underscored how profoundly the relationship between the two countries has deepened, and how politically and culturally active Melbourne's Indian community now is in shaping that connection. [3]
🤝 Melbourne's Chethicad Oommen Thomas awarded Medal of the Order of Australia for Indian community service
Melbourne's Chethicad Oommen Thomas has been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in recognition of his sustained service to the Indian community in Australia. The award, reported by The Australia Today in June 2026, was made in the General Division of the Order of Australia, one of the country's most respected civilian honours. The OAM is given to individuals who have made a distinguished contribution of a high degree to Australia or to humanity at large, and Thomas's recognition reflects decades of community leadership and grassroots work supporting Indian migrants and Indian-Australians in Victoria. Community honours of this kind carry particular weight in Melbourne, which has one of Australia's largest and most established Indian-born populations, underpinned by a dense network of cultural, religious, civic and professional organisations built up over several generations. For the many Melbourne Indians who know Thomas personally through community organisations or events, the award is a formal acknowledgement of work that has long been valued at the local level but rarely recognized at the national level. The honour arrives in a broader moment of high visibility for Melbourne's Indian community — the same period as PM Modi's sold-out visit to the city — and serves as a reminder that the contributions of Indian-Australians are being recognized at both state and federal levels. Thomas's OAM stands as recognition not just of one individual but of an entire generation of community builders in Victoria. [4]
Sources: [3] Firstpost · [4] The Australia Today