Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is due to welcome his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to Admiralty House ahead of official talks after the pair enjoyed a rockstar welcome at a stadium event at Sydney Olympic Park.
Albanese and Governor-General David Hurley will meet with Modi at Kirribilli ahead of bilateral talks on May 24.
The prime ministers are expected to discuss trade, defence and renewable energy as both nations seek to strengthen relations.
Business leaders and delegates will also meet with Modi during his first visit to Australia in 10 years and the two prime ministers’ sixth meeting in 12 months.
But the Australian government is being pushed to take a more hardline approach towards India’s reluctance to openly criticise Russia for invading Ukraine and human rights abuses.
Albanese said Modi was certainly a popular prime minister but didn’t please everyone as “it’s a democracy”.
“Australia always stands up for human rights, anywhere in the world,” he told ABC TV.
But he wouldn’t confirm whether the issue would be raised, saying he engaged with world leaders one-on-one and would not leak messages.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia maintained a consistent approach to human rights and democratic principles and “we articulate that appropriately with friends and partners and we'll continue to do that.”
She said India was an important strategic relationship for Australia as both democratic nations were pushing for a strong and stable Indo-Pacific region.
But Senator Wong added she wouldn’t pre-empt what would be discussed during the bilateral meeting between the two prime ministers as Modi pushes to have alternative Indian medicine accessible through Medicare.
The foreign minister was also pressed on whether Australia would bring up India’s ties with the Kremlin and import Russian arms.
New Delhi has also been criticised for not expressly condemning Russia for its invasion.
Senator Wong said Modi’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the weekend where he signalled support for the nation’s sovereignty sent an important message.
“I thought that was a very important meeting and sent a very important signal about the opposition to Russia’s illegal and immoral war against Ukraine,” she told Sky News.
Albanese added that “India is responsible for its own international relations,” referring to India’s history of non-alignment.
“India is a great supporter of peace and security and stability in our region,” he said.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham will also meet the Indian prime minister.
Pressed on what issues he would raise, Senator Birmingham said he wanted to see an expansion of the free trade agreement and boost economic and defence ties.
On human rights, he said Australia “should always be consistent and predictable when it comes to where and to how we apply our values in the world”.
Senator Birmingham said while Australia couldn’t control what happens in other nations, the government needed to convey how it thought democratic principles should be upheld.
He said he would try and raise India’s support for Ukraine during what he expected to be a relatively short meeting with “many topics on the list to encourage in terms of our bilateral relations”.
