Following up on his “2+6=8” analogy in Indonesia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi deployed mathematics again for bonhomie, this time in Australia, as he spoke of how the two countries can become stronger together.
“If one is added to one, it becomes two. But if one stands with one, it becomes 11,” Modi said to Australian PM Anthony Albanese as the two sides participated in the Australia-India Annual Leaders’ Summit in Melbourne on Thursday, news agency PTI reported with a video.
“In the true sense, today India and Australia are together. That’s why one and one are not becoming two, but one next to one is becoming 11 together,” the Indian leader said, speaking in Hindi and using the “ek aur ek gyarah” idiom from the language.
Albanese smiled as the remark was translated.
The comment came just days after Modi used another such analogy during the ASEAN-India Summit and East Asia Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, where he described the relationship through what he called the “2+6+8” formula.
At an Indian diaspora event in Jakarta, after Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said eight was his lucky number because he was the country’s eighth President, Modi built on the theme by pointing out that India’s Republic Day falls on January 26 — “2 plus 6 equals 8” — and that Prabowo’s birth date is 17 — “1 plus 7 equals 8”.
He also used this framework for India-Indonesia and ASEAN ties, using the numbers to symbolise different facets of the bilateral relationship. Modi said the number ‘2’ represented the shared commitment of India and ASEAN to peace and prosperity; ‘6’ stood for six decades of ASEAN’s journey and six years of India’s Act East Policy entering a new phase; while ‘8’ referred to the eight key pillars of cooperation that would shape future engagement.
Earlier, while addressing the Indian diaspora in Trinidad and Tobago during a visit earlier this month, Modi had drawn another numerical comparison, noting that “five plus five is 10, but in cricket it becomes a century”, referring to the enthusiasm of the crowd and the sporting passion shared by the two countries.
Key visit
The Australia visit marked the final leg of Modi’s latest three-nation tour, which included the Indonesia events and New Zealand, where he headed next.
In Australia, Modi and Albanese held wide-ranging talks covering defence and security cooperation, economic ties, education, renewable energy, critical minerals, maritime security and people-to-people links.
Recognising critical minerals as a cornerstone of future economic cooperation, the two sides agreed to deepen collaboration in securing reliable supply chains for lithium, cobalt and rare earths, seen as essential for clean energy technologies and advanced manufacturing.
