(Bloomberg) -- We’ve had “Howdy Modi.” Now it’s “Namaste Trump.”
That’s how the western Indian city of Ahmedabad is advertising the event where President Donald Trump and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to share the stage at a cricket stadium on Feb. 24.
“Get ready to say #NamasteTrump,” the municipal corporation of Ahmedabad, the largest city in Modi’s home state of Gujarat, said in a tweet, as it geared up to welcome the American president on his maiden India visit next week. It also invited people to join “#theBiggestRoadShowEver.”
Trump is expected on a two-day visit to India starting Feb. 24 to boost bilateral ties.
The event follows Modi’s trip to the U.S. in September where he walked hand-in-hand with Trump at a rock-concert like event at a Houston football stadium. The “Howdy Modi” extravaganza was seen as an endorsement of Trump in front of more than 50,000 Indian Americans -- an influential voter base.
The Hindi word Namaste means hello in English. The stadium that will host the two leaders in Ahmedabad can seat some 100,000 and is said to be the world’s biggest cricket stadium.
Trump’s visit comes as India faces the slowest economic growth since 2009 and rising social unrest against Modi’s government, which has been pushing its Hindu nationalist agenda through new laws widely seen as discriminating against Muslims.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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