PM Modi gifts Madhya Pradesh's Gond Art Painting to newly appointed Australian PM

On May 24, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented a Gond Art Painting to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on behalf of Indians. The leaders of India and Australia are in Tokyo for the second in-person Quad summit. Further, on the sidelines of the Quad Summit in Tokyo on May 24, PM Modi held "fruitful" discussions with Australian PM Anthony Albanese, during which the two leaders reviewed their multifaceted bilateral cooperation and reaffirmed their desire to deepen it.

What is Gond Art Painting?

Gond paintings are a highly regarded form of tribal art which have their origin in Madhya Pradesh. The word 'Gond' is derived from the word 'Kond,' which meaning 'green mountain.' Gond art is thought to be quite similar to Australian Aboriginal art. The Aborigines, like the Gonds, have their own creation stories. These two art forms are separated by thousands of miles in terms of geographic distance between their creators, but they are strongly linked in their sentimentality and emotional core, which are the distinguishing characteristics of every art form.

The Gond paintings are made up of dots and lines and have been used as pictorial art on Gond walls and floors. It is done during the building and re-building of each house, using locally available natural colours and materials such as charcoal, coloured soil, plant sap, leaves, cow dung, lime stone powder, and so on.

PM Modi acknowledges PM Albanese's dedication

At the Quad summit, Prime Minister Modi congratulated Albanese, saying his presence at the summit only 24 hours after taking the oath demonstrated his dedication to the Quad. On Monday, Anthony Albanese was sworn in as Australia's 31st Prime Minister. In Saturday's election, his center-left Labor Party defeated his predecessor Scott Morrison's conservative coalition. For nine years, the coalition had been in power under three prime ministers.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, both Prime Ministers expressed their desire to maintain the positive momentum in the bilateral relationship. Furthermore, Prime Minister Modi invited the Australian Prime Minister to visit India as soon as possible. MEA stated in a press release, "Both leaders reviewed the multi-faceted cooperation under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including in trade & investment, defence manufacturing, renewable energy including green hydrogen, education, science and technology, agricultural research, sports and people-to-people ties."

Image: AP/ANI