New Delhi, September 13 – Some 20,000 Indian-Americans will greet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a public event organised in his honour at Madison Square in New York on September 28, the organisers said on Friday.
Indian-Americans from across the US will attend the public reception organised by Indian-American Community Foundation (IACF) with support of more than 400 community organisations.
“The phenomenal response to this event suggests that this is an important moment for the Indian Diaspora,” a report quoted IACF spokesperson Anand Shah as saying.
“This will be the largest gathering in history to hear an Indian Prime Minister speak in America, the sheer diversity of people coming to Madison Square Garden indicates that the Indian American community sees significant promise in his leadership, and an opportunity for a stronger relationship between the world’s oldest and largest democracies,” he said.
According to the report, nearly 30,000 people had registered for the event and the final list was decided by lottery. Over two-third of Indian-Americans will be attending the function.
As a result, the local public transport will run their busy weekday schedule, instead of the weekend schedule, of buses and trains, so as to cater to the rush.
Indian-Americans from several other States like Illinois, California, Texas, Georgia and Florida too are flying to New York for the big event, IACF said.
Quite a number of people from Canada as well would be joining the event, it said. In fact, Modi’s reception would have representation from as many as 46 of 50 American States and one US territory.
The Indian Diaspora community from five Canadian Provinces would be attending the event, organisers of the event said, adding that a number of people are also coming from India. Over one-third of the attendees would be females, reflecting his popularity among the.
-INDIA TODAY
