PM Narendra Modi Gifts Colonial Cousins Vinyl Album to Australian PM Anthony Albanese, Leslee Lewis Calls It an Honour

A moment of musical diplomacy played out during a recent meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, when PM Modi presented his Australian counterpart with a vinyl record from Colonial Cousins, the pioneering Indian fusion duo of Leslee Lewis and Hariharan.

Reacting to the gesture, Leslee Lewis shared his reaction on social media from Australia, calling it an amazing feeling to see the Prime Minister gift the group's music as a representation of India's musical heritage on the world stage. He expressed gratitude for the recognition, noting how meaningful it was to see Colonial Cousins continue to represent the country's cultural legacy at this level, and credited bandmate Hariharan alongside him in marking the moment.

Colonial Cousins, formed in the mid-1990s, became one of Indian music's most influential crossover acts, blending Hindustani classical elements with pop, jazz and electronic influences at a time when that kind of genre-blurring was rare in mainstream Indian music. Their self-titled debut album and hits that followed helped define a new sound for a generation of listeners and paved the way for the fusion and independent music scenes that came after.

The gesture arrives at a moment when music and cultural exports have increasingly become part of India's soft-power diplomacy toolkit, with prominent Indian artists and their work being used to represent the country's cultural depth in high-level diplomatic exchanges. For Colonial Cousins specifically, being chosen for such a gift underscores the duo's lasting relevance nearly three decades after they first reshaped the sound of Indian pop music, and speaks to how their work continues to be seen as representative of India's broader musical identity on the global stage.