KEY POINTS:
- DFAT has confirmed Anthony Albanese raised human rights with Narendra Modi.
- Mr Albanese had not publicly addressed human rights concerns.
- Mr Modi visited Australia last week and was labelled 'The Boss' by Mr Albanese.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese did raise alleged human rights abuses with Indian counterpart Narendra Modi during his trip to Australia, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has confirmed.
Mr Albanese welcomed Mr Modi , introducing the Indian Prime Minister as "The Boss" before a raucous rally in Sydney and repeatedly stressing India was the world's largest democracy.
But he did not confirm whether serious allegations of , including the targeting of religious minorities and a crackdown on the free press, were raised during the visit.
Neither leader took questions from journalists after a bilateral meeting or addressed human rights in their prepared statements.
Speaking to Senate estimates on Thursday, DFAT deputy secretary Elly Lawson revealed Mr Albanese did air some concerns privately but did not provide detail.
"We have raised human rights concerns with the Indian government on a very wide range of occasions in the past year, including during high-level meetings and high-level visits," she said.
India has dropped to 161st on the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, after in a 2002 mass killing was banned by his government in January. Mr Modi has always denied the allegations and was eventually cleared by the Indian legal system.
A month after the ban, Indian authorities raided BBC offices in what they insisted was a tax investigation.
Asked specifically whether Mr Albanese had spoken to Mr Modi about press freedom or the BBC raid, Ms Lawson would not be drawn.
"We have consistently raised concerns about press freedom, and I won't go into the details of that particular meeting. But I'm very confident that those concerns have been raised at a very high level," she said.
Human rights organisations have also warned Mr Modi's government, viewed by its critics as a hardline Hindu nationalist movement, has discriminated against India's Muslim and Sikh minorities.
Greens senator Jordon Steele-John, who spoke at the screening of the documentary in Parliament last week, criticised Mr Albanese for lack of "balance" in his public statements.
The pair also met in India in March. Source: Twitter / @narendramodi
"This has caused great concern among the Indian diaspora community in Australia, particularly minorities within the Indian diaspora."
Senator Steele-John noted that Mr Albanese had previously singled out human rights allegations in China and demanded to know why his public commentary was inconsistent.
Labor senator Malarndirri McCarthy, representing Foreign Minister Penny Wong during her absence, said DFAT had already answered the question.
"We take on board the concerns that you've highlighted."
Mr Albanese's comment was central to a video produced by the youth wing of Mr Modi's party, titled 'The Boss'. The video also featured Mr Modi alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
On Sunday, after Mr Modi returned home, Mr Albanese defended his use of the term as a "bit of colour" and a reference to rock star Bruce Springsteen.
But he accepted there were "different views" in the Indian diaspora about Mr Modi's leadership, implying he had raised human rights issues during the visit.
"There are issues in India, and there are issues that we raise privately with Prime Minister Modi, as you would expect," he told 2SM radio.
