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'Howdy Modi' will see biggest crowd in US for a visiting leader next to Pope's visit

WION
New Delhi/Houston Written By: Palki SharmaUpdated: Sep 21, 2019, 05:56 PM IST
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File photo: PM Narendra Modi. Photograph:(ANI)

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This is the first time when an American President will be participating in the diaspora event in the United States and address the Indian-American community.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing the biggest ever Indian diaspora event, 'Howdy Modi', in the United States in Houston, Texas on Sunday. According to the organisers of the event, Texas India Forum, 50,000 people have registered for the event. The event will take place at the NRG Stadium in Houston

Jugal Malani, chairperson of Texas India Forum told WION, "Houston has a large Indian diaspora. We started from July 19 and when we started the registration process, within 3 weeks, 50,000 people registered and many are on the waiting list now".

It will be the largest gathering for any democratically elected foreign leader in the US. The biggest gathering which the US has seen for a visiting leader has been for the Pope. The big focus will be on US President Donald Trump's presence at the event.

"It is the relationship between the US and India. This is the main focus. Personal chemistry plays an important role. They have become a good friend", Malani said when asked on Trump's presence.

This is the first time when an American President will be participating in the diaspora event and address the Indian-American community. Senior Democratic leadership of the United States will also be present at this event, this includes several elected Congressional representatives from both the parties. 

Last week External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called Trump's participation a tribute to the role played by the Indian-Americans in the American society.

"I regard this as a great achievement of the Indian-American community that if today you have an event of this size and you have someone like President Trump coming there, this shows where that community has reached, how it is regarded in the US and respect it commands there... it is great achievement of the community," Jaishankar said.

Before the Houston diaspora event, the prime minister has addressed the Indian-American community twice during his first term - first at the Madison Square Garden, New York in 2014 followed by his address in San Jose in the year 2015.

This is PM Modi's first visit to the US in his second term.