Sydney: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is certainly one of the most visible leaders that India has had in a lifetime according to Nobel laureate Brian Paul Schmidt after a meeting with the Indian leader in the Australian city of Sydney.

PM Modi had arrived here on a three-day visit to Australia, a day ago, met with Schmidt the leader and chief executive officer of Australian National University today

“Prime Minister Modi is certainly one of the most visible leaders that India has had in my lifetime, and just talking to him, I can see why. He’s very personable and really takes an interest in people when he talks to them. And I think that’s probably true of whoever he talks to, whether it’s the President of the United States or someone that he meets for the first time from society,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt also spoke about India’s work in research and science.

“It was actually really enjoyable. He (PM Modi) was very well briefed on what we’re doing here in Australia and how we can work together in research and science. India’s ability to do world-class science has become just an order of magnitude higher because India is investing in its science and scientists to give them equipment and the ability to ask questions on the edge,” Schmidt said.

The Nobel laureate chairs key management committees including the University Senior Management Group and the ANU Executive and is also a member of the ANU governing body, the Council.

The Vice-Chancellor is the University’s primary representative to government and wider society and to national and international organisations. Professor Schmidt was appointed the 12th Vice-Chancellor of ANU in January 2016.

Professor Schmidt is the winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, alongside many other academic awards and distinctions, Professor Schmidt spent most of his academic career as an astrophysicist at the ANU Mount Stromlo Observatory and Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics before becoming Vice-Chancellor.

“Furthering India-Australia cultural and people-to-people ties. PM Modi interacted with prominent public figures in Australia, working in diverse fields of science, artificial intelligence, humanities, social work, gastronomy, art and music. Congratulated them on their achievements and encouraged them to contribute to strengthening India-Australia relationship,” Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a tweet.

Celebrity chef and restaurateur Sarah Todd after meeting with PM Modi described him as “an incredible man and influencer.”

“I think coming from humble beginnings and standing up as this leader in the country, he’s done such incredible work and really taken people on a journey and made people feel heard. And I think sitting with him today and having a conversation made me realize just how personable he is and really engaged,” Todd said.

Since her debut on MasterChef Australia, Todd has grown to become one the most renowned and exciting names in the Indian food scene, opening her first restaurant Antares Restaurant and Beach Club in 2014, where after she returned to Australian screens for a six-part series called ‘My Restaurant in India’, airing in 156 countries worldwide.

In 2020 Todd was invited as an official chef for the Australian Open in the AO Chefs Series, hosting a fine dining restaurant that was featured in a 5-part series called Perfect Serve.

In the series of meetings with influential people in Sydney, PM Modi met “Toilet Warrior” Mark Bella. After the meeting, Bella said that PM Modi is the number one changemaker in the sanitation space globally. He also stated that the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan program is the biggest sanitation infrastructure program in human history.

Bella accomplished public speaker on humanitarian issues both in Australia and internationally, ready to change the perception of the world we live in. He is the founder of a charity with an international focus on improving life opportunities for girls and women in developing countries.

“PM Modi’s impact socially to create the social will and political will for this issue in India has been enormous. And I think this social impact, it’s unquestionable. This is one of the most important things that I’ve seen happen in India in the 1520 years that I’ve been visiting your country,” Bella said.

Meanwhile, Sydney-based artist working in large-scale mural design and public art, Danielle Mate, who met PM Modi in Sydney, said, “We’ve talked a lot about how India and Australia could work better encouraging creative subjects, particularly in university. He definitely has a creative element to himself, so I think he can really see similarities between First Nations arts and possibly Gond arts. So indigenous arts of India. And I think there are a lot of cultural crossovers in the arts as well as just culturally, I suppose there are a lot of similarities between our two countries, which is beautiful.”

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