US: Clamour from across US to join Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s New York reception overwhelms venue capacity

NEW YORK: The Indian diaspora and Americans from across the country are clamouring to join the community reception for Prime Minister Narendra Modi overwhelming the New York venue’s capacity, according to the event’s organisers.

“There is a huge level of enthusiasm here to see the Prime Minister and hear his message” at the reception on September 22, said Avinash Gupta, the President of the tri-state chapter of the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA).

“We have received over 25,000 requests for tickets to the event from people in 42 states and we are now considering how to accommodate as many as possible,” Gupta, who is one of the organisers, said.

The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum has a capacity of only 18,000 and the organisers are trying to increase the audience size by adding temporary seating in what is normally the play area in the middle, he said. The event’s website says that registrations are open till noon on September 1 and passes will be issued through lottery. For those who can’t make it, the organisers are planning to have the reception simulcast on giant TV screens at Times Square and in places like Edison, New Jersey, Gupta said.

About 560 organisations are joining in co-sponsoring the reception, he said. Modi will be in New York for the summits at the United Nations and address the General Assembly on September 26.

The event is organised by the Indo-American Community of USA (IACU) organisation, which uses the motto, “Modi and US, Progress Together”.

With PM Modi at the helm, the meeting will celebrate the Indian diaspora’s achievements and reflect the people-to-people links between the US and India bringing the two nations closer, Gupta said.

Cultural programmes “representing our culture and heritage, and the diversity” will precede Prime Minister Modi’s appearance expected around noon (9.30 p.m. in India), he said.

The arena, which is the home of the Nets basketball team, is in Uniondale, about 50 kilometres from Manhattan on Long Island. Gupta said that buses are being arranged to bring visitors from around New York, as well as from Washington and Boston.

Donald Trump, who was the President at that time, appeared alongside Modi at the last community event billed as “Howdy Modi”, in 2019 in Houston. But this time, with the US elections only five weeks away from the reception date, there will be no participation by US politicians, who have been fixtures at the other community events for the Indian PM held in 2014 in New York and in San Jose, California, the next year.

On International Yoga Day in June last year, PM Modi joined a mass yoga exercise at the United Nations.

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