After spectacular welcome, Trump, Modi to have official talks Tuesday.
True to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise to President Donald Trump, he and first lady Melania Trump got a fairy tale welcome Monday on their two-day maiden visit to India.
From being greeted by dancers and performers lining streets of Ahmedabad as their cavalcade made its way from the airport to Motera Cricket Stadium, said to be the world’s largest, filled with some 125,000 people, it was clear that theatrics would remain an integral part of this visit.
“America will always be faithful and loyal friends to the Indian people,” Trump said to a cheering crowd at the grand ‘Namaste India’ spectacle billed as India’s answer to “Howdy Modi’ event in Houston during Modi’s visit to the US last year.
While Modi greeted the visiting President with his trademark hug as he stepped down from Air Force One in Ahmedabad, Trump too stoked their bromance referring to the Indian Prime Minister as my “Great Friend,” in the visitors’ book at Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram.
The first couple also visited Taj Mahal, the 17th century monument of love commissioned by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, in Agra in Uttar Pradesh state.
Walking leisurely taking in the beauty of the architectural marvel they also stood before the historic wonder to get quintessential Taj in the backdrop photos as the first couple smiled for the cameras.
Trump’s daughter Ivanka along with her husband Jared Kushner, who both serve as advisors to the President and are part of the visiting delegation, too went round clicking pictures around the monument.
Both in terms of enormity and presentation, the Trump India visit would arguably go down in the history of India as one of the most celebrated state visits ever.
Large billboards and enthusiastic crowds holding Indian and US flag marked the first day of the American President’s visit to India.
However, amidst the pomp and pageantry, one could not overlook the violent clashes between pro and anti CAA protestors leading to arson and stone pelting in the Indian capital on Monday. A civilian and a constable died in the clashes.
As President Trump and Modi sit down for official talks in New Delhi on Tuesday, one wonders whether the two leaders would choose to address the issues that have led to protests across India since the passage of controversial citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
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