Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Tuesday expressed his country's willingness to have close and friendly ties with New Delhi than what it had earlier existed.
"Geologists believe, that somewhere between a hundred and thirty and three hundred million years ago, Australia and India actually shared the same landmass. We were so as to speak joined at the geological hip. We cannot change continental drift but we can ensure that we are closer friends and partners in the future than we have been in the recent past," Abbott said while addressing the joint session of Australian Parliament.
Referring to Prime Minister Modi's popularity here in his country, Abbott hoped that the next prime ministerial visit to Australia by an Indian prime minister would not be that long.
"I have never seen any leader as rapturously received in this country as Prime Minister Modi has been and that's not just by the half a million Australians of Indian descent. And not just because the former chief minister of Gujarat has never been a stranger to us and atleast this should mean it never again will be 28 years till the next prime ministerial visit," he said.
"The cheering crowds sense that there is a natural affinity between Australia and India, a natural partnership for peace and prosperity and they want both of us, all of us to make the most of it," he added.
