New Delhi: Ending speculation whether he will make a joint appearance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Donald Trump has confirmed his participation in the September 22 ‘Howdy, Modi!’ event being organized by Indian Diaspora in Houston , Texas.
Trump is likely to announce his candidacy for a second term in Presidential elections, to be held next year. In 2016, he had been supported by a large section of the influential NRI community.
Modi will be in the USA from September 21 to 27 to participate in the UN General Assembly meeting. He is scheduled to address it on September 27, the same day as Pakistan PM Imran Khan.
The September 22 event be the third successive meeting between Trump and Modi within the span of a few weeks after the G-20 and G-7 Summits. More than 50,000 Indian-Americans from across the US had already registered for the mega event, to be held at the NRG stadium in Houston.
“The special gesture of President Trump to join us in Houston highlights the strength of the relationship and recognition of the contribution of the Indian community to American society and economy,” Modi tweeted on Monday.
In a statement, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said, “It (Modi-Trump joint rally) will be a great opportunity to emphasize the strong ties between the people of the United States and India, to reaffirm the strategic partnership between the world’s oldest and largest democracies, and to discuss ways to deepen their energy and trade relationship.” This would also be the first time that an American president would be addressing thousands of Indian-Americans, together with the Indian PM, at one place in the US.
Calling Trump’s participation in the event ‘historic’ and ‘unprecedented’, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Indian ambassador to the US said, “It is reflective of the strong bonds of friendship and cooperation that have developed between India and the US”.
The Houston event will be Modi’s third major address in the US since he became the PM in 2014 and the first after his re-election in May year. The earlier two events were held in New York in 2014 and the Silicon Valley in 2016, and were attended by over 20,000 people.
