Why Biden told Modi, 'I should take your autograph'

When United States President Joe Biden walked up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Quad meeting, one of the points he made was the large number of requests he was getting from prominent citizens to attend the Indian leader's programmes during his next month state visit to Washington DC, officials said on Sunday.

Echoing a similar view, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he too is finding it difficult to accommodate all the requests he is getting for a community event, where Modi will speak on Tuesday, even though the Sydney venue has a capacity of 20,000, officials added.

Albanese remembered how at the Narendra Modi stadium more than 90,000 people welcomed him during the victory lap.

To this Biden told Modi in a lighter vein that he should take his autograph.

Modi and Albanese were in the Gujarat stadium to watch an India-Australia test match in March this year and had taken a lap of honour.

As part of his ongoing three-nation visit, Modi is scheduled to arrive in Australia on Monday and will address the community event on Tuesday.