Thousands of miles from home, the chants of Jai Shri Ram rang out across Sydney, Australia — and Union Coal and Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy was there to hear them. On Sunday, 25 October 2026, the Minister attended the Dasara Milan, an annual cultural gathering of the Indian community in Sydney, describing the event as a powerful reminder that the spirit of Bharat travels far beyond its borders.

Reddy wrote on X that 'the Indian diaspora's enduring connection to its roots, culture and traditions were truly heartening,' adding that it was equally encouraging to see how closely the community follows developments back home. He addressed the gathering on a pointed theme: the diaspora's role as a 'stakeholder in India's soft power and its responsibility in taking the country's development story to the world.'

Dasara in Sydney: culture as a live geopolitical signal

Sydney hosts one of Australia's largest and most visible Indian communities, making it a natural stage for this kind of cultural diplomacy. The Dasara Milan is not merely a festive get-together — it is the kind of event successive Indian governments have consciously engaged with as part of a broader effort to maintain organic links between the Indian state and its overseas citizens.

Reddy framed the diaspora's cultural vitality as directly connected to national prestige: 'The confidence of a New India is reflected in the achievements of its diaspora, whose skills, intellect and enterprise contribute to global progress while shaping how India is perceived across the world.' That framing — diaspora achievement as national brand — is a well-worn but increasingly assertive diplomatic posture.

India's diaspora-engagement playbook and the Australia connection

India has formally institutionalised diaspora outreach since 2003, when the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention was launched to bring overseas Indians into the country's development and image-building orbit. What has evolved since then is the level of ministerial attention devoted to these communities in geopolitically significant partner nations.

India and Australia share a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that explicitly includes people-to-people ties as a pillar — making the Indian diaspora in Sydney not just a cultural constituency but a living, breathing element of the bilateral relationship. When a Union Cabinet minister appears at a Dasara gathering on a Sunday in Sydney, it is a signal that New Delhi considers that people-to-people dimension worth Cabinet-level investment.

Indian ministers attending diaspora cultural events abroad is a regular feature of the government's outreach calendar, but the language Reddy used — 'stakeholder,' 'responsibility,' 'development story' — indicates a deliberate pitch for the community to play an active, not merely symbolic, role in India's global positioning.

The diaspora listened. And judging by the chants that filled a Sydney hall on a Sunday afternoon, it appears they are still paying very close attention to home.