Modi addresses thousands of Indian expats at Dubai cricket stadium
Modi discusses 'cooperation' with oil-rich UAE during 2-day visit, first by an Indian premier in more than 3 decades
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Prime Minister of the (UAE) and ruler of Dubai meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi before a meeting in Dubai. Modi is on a two-day visit, the first by an Indian premier in more than three decades, during which he discussed "cooperation" with oil-rich UAE. PHOTO: AFP/HO/WAM
DUBAI:
Tens of thousands of Indian expats in Dubai feted their Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a cricket stadium in Dubai at the end of a visit aimed at boosting economic ties.
Braving high temperatures and humidity, they filled the 25,000-seat stadium waving Indian flags as their premier gave a speech in Hindi, drawing loud applause. Thousands of others watched on giant screens outside the Dubai Cricket Stadium in the economic hub of the United Arab Emirates, where Indians, many of them labourers, account for about 30% of the eight-million population.
Modi is the first Indian premier to visit the UAE in more than three decades. The late Indira Gandhi travelled to the Emirates in 1981.
During a two-day visit, he met with Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, crown prince of oil-rich Abu Dhabi.
Modi also told a gathering of Emirati businessmen of the potential for $1 trillion worth of investments in India, with its massive infrastructure projects, in the agricultural sector and in housing.
The premier said he would despatch India's commerce minister to discuss any problems faced by UAE investors in his country.
Tens of thousands of Indian expats in Dubai feted their Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a cricket stadium in Dubai at the end of a visit aimed at boosting economic ties.
Braving high temperatures and humidity, they filled the 25,000-seat stadium waving Indian flags as their premier gave a speech in Hindi, drawing loud applause. Thousands of others watched on giant screens outside the Dubai Cricket Stadium in the economic hub of the United Arab Emirates, where Indians, many of them labourers, account for about 30% of the eight-million population.
Modi is the first Indian premier to visit the UAE in more than three decades. The late Indira Gandhi travelled to the Emirates in 1981.
During a two-day visit, he met with Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, crown prince of oil-rich Abu Dhabi.
Modi also told a gathering of Emirati businessmen of the potential for $1 trillion worth of investments in India, with its massive infrastructure projects, in the agricultural sector and in housing.
The premier said he would despatch India's commerce minister to discuss any problems faced by UAE investors in his country.