Uniondale, Sep 20: Final preparations are afoot to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a diaspora rally on Sunday when more than 16,000 people will gather at the Nassau Coliseum here.
The programme is sandwiched between his participation in the Quad summit convened by US President Joe Biden in Delaware on Saturday and his address to the United Nations ‘Summit of the Future’ on Monday.
The organisers were overwhelmed by the number of people who wanted to attend the event billed as “Modi and US, Progress Together”, according to Avinash Gupta, the President of the tri-state chapter of the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA).
More than 25,000 applications were received for the event and the organisers had to winnow it down to about 16,000 to fit the venue, he said. A cultural programme will be held before Prime Minister Modi’s speech.
Gupta said that 159 applications were received for participating in the cultural programme and 15 were selected. Priority was given to children’s performances and these will reflect the diversity of India’s culture, he said. Because the event is taking place only 44 days before the US election, there won’t be any politicians on the stage, though some may come as audience participants, he said.
Prime Ministers Anthony Albanese of Australia and Fumio Kishida of Japan will represent their countries at the summit of the four-member group formally known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. The Summit of the Future aims to bring world leaders to map the UN’s agenda “to meet our existing international commitments and take concrete steps to respond to emerging challenges and opportunities”, according to the organisation.
While in New York, Prime Minister Modi is expected to hold meetings with world leaders who will be attending the summit, the Ministry of External Affairs said. Former President Donald Trump, who is the Republican Party presidential candidate, said that he will be meeting Prime Minister Modi. He held a rally on Wednesday at the Nassau Coliseum where Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to speak on Sunday.
IANS