Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day US visit, preparations are in full swing at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Long Island, New York, where the PM will engage with thousands of Indian community members on September 22.
During his visit from September 21-23, PM Modi will also participate in the Quad Summit and deliver a speech at the ‘Summit of the Future’ at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The Indian diaspora will have the opportunity to meet the Prime Minister at the mega community event in New York. Local media reports suggest that over 24,000 Indian-Americans have registered for the event at Nassau Coliseum, which has a seating capacity of 15,000.
Watch the video here:
#WATCH | New York, United States: Inside visuals from Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Long Island, where PM Modi is scheduled to address the Indian diaspora, on September 22 pic.twitter.com/ZSKm6xVS9n
— ANI (@ANI) September 20, 2024
The event, themed “Modi & US: Progress Together,” will celebrate the diversity and achievements of the Indian-American community. Cultural performances and appearances by prominent Indian-American personalities are also planned, according to the organizers.
Attendees are expected from 42 states, with a particularly strong response from the tri-state area. A key organizer emphasized, “We’re committed to ensuring as many people as possible can participate in this historic event.”
Indian diaspora members expressed their excitement about PM Modi’s visit. Prakash Shantilal Patel, a community member, shared, “We are super excited to meet him. PM Modi is one of the excellent Prime Ministers of the country and he is famous in the world, so we are excited. Around 5,000 to 10,000 people from the Gujarati community will meet him. We will talk to him if we get a chance.”
A young member of the diaspora, Arav Verma, said, “I am very excited to see PM Modi and I cannot wait to meet him. He did a lot of good stuff for the country. He is one of my favourite leaders of all time.”
This event follows a similar gathering in 2019, ‘Howdy Modi’, held at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, where PM Modi was accompanied by former President Donald Trump. The current visit also takes place just weeks before the U.S. presidential election, where Trump and Kamala Harris are key contenders.