Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Modi courts high-powered Indian-Americans in NY

NEW YORK — A day after addressing a hushed United Nations General Assembly, where headphone-wearing delegates rarely break into a smile, India’s Prime Minister was set to be assured a raucous reception when he addresses a crowd from a rotating stage at Madison Square Garden.

NEW YORK — A day after addressing a hushed United Nations General Assembly, where headphone-wearing delegates rarely break into a smile, India’s Prime Minister was set to be assured a raucous reception when he addresses a crowd from a rotating stage at Madison Square Garden.

Exhibiting unusual glitz for a visiting leader, Mr Narendra Modi was due to take a star turn later yesterday at the famous New York auditorium as he courts the Indian-American community on his first United States visit since sweeping to power in May.

Mr Modi is no stranger to a big stage. Backed by huge corporate wealth, he was the centre of the slickest election campaign India has seen, drawing huge crowds, and the Indian media quickly gave him the celebrity-like nickname of NaMo.

Madison Square Garden, however, takes it up a notch. It is home to the New York Knicks basketball team and was where musician John Lennon played his last concert. Legendary boxer Muhammad Ali fought his first bout against close rival Joe Frazier there.

The event organiser expected about 18,500 Indian-Americans to attend the US$1.5 million (S$1.91 million) event. They were among more than 30,000 across the US who had registered for free tickets. The speech would also be broadcast on a big screen in Times Square.

Mr Modi had in May won a spectacular electoral victory and was catapulted into the international arena. The victory marked a major change since 2005 when the US denied him a visa for his alleged complicity in sectarian violence in his home state of Gujarat.

Now, he is being courted by world leaders and, today and tomorrow, United States President Barack Obama will host Mr Modi at the White House.

The Indian leader, who is a Hindu nationalist, has not entirely shed questions about his past. A federal court in New York on Friday issued a summons for Mr Modi for a lawsuit brought by a US human rights group. It was filed on the behalf of victims of the Gujarat violence, which claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people, most of whom were Muslims. The group offered a US$10,000 reward for anyone able to serve the summons on Mr Modi, though as a head of state, he enjoys immunity from lawsuits in American courts while in the US.

While some anti-Modi protesters were expected outside the venue, the audience inside will be sympathetic — and high-powered too. US lawmakers, Indian celebrities and prominent Indian-American business people were due to attend.

Mr Modi was to speak in Hindi from a rotating platform, but was expected to give some remarks in English, said the event organiser, the Indian-American Community Foundation.

The foundation said more than 400 partner organisations had helped spread the word and distribute tickets for the event, which has financial support from Indian-American people and businesses. The organiser was billing it as one of the largest receptions held for a foreign head of state in the US. Bollywood stars had offered their talents, but the organiser wanted to keep the focus on Indian-Americans.

Though Mr Modi remains a divisive figure, the event was a sign of his appeal not only at home, but also among the Indian diaspora as a leader who can tackle pervasive corruption and inefficiency and revive the sluggish Indian economy.

The event also reflects the growing clout of the 2.8 million Indian-Americans, one of the wealthiest diaspora communities in the US, which can help Mr Modi spur trade and foreign investment back home. AGENCIES

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.