PM Modi meets former Australian PM Tony Abbott, calls him India's "friend"

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday met with former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who is currently visiting India, said that he has "always been a friend of India." PM Modi also spoke about how Abbott during a visit to Dilli Haat venue in the national capital enjoyed millets. Sharing a picture with Abbott on X, PM Modi stated, "Delighted to meet my good friend and former Australian PM, Mr. Tony Abbott. He has always been a friend of India's. We have all seen him enjoy millets during his current visit." Abbott served as Australia's Prime Minister from September 18, 2013 to September 15, 2015. He was member of Australia's House of Representatives from 1994 to 2019.

During his visit to the Millets Experience Centre at Dilli Haat in New Delhi on Friday, Abbott, said that he was impressed by the various millet-based food items he had tried. He said, "I did not expect millets to be so versatile. But on my experience, I will thoroughly recommend Millets." The Millets Experience Centre (MEC) was launched by former Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar, along with Managing Director of National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED), Rajbir Singh in April 2023. The centre was made to raise awareness of Millets and encourage its adoption among the general public, according to a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. "The ministry-led initiative of establishing a consumer-oriented 'Millets Experience Centre' would not only promote the dietary benefits of the ancient grain, but also popularize millets or Shree Anna as a nutritional powerhouse fit for cooking a variety of dishes like Millets dosa, Millets pasta etc," read a statement from the ministry.