Over 24,000 members of the Indian diaspora have enrolled to attend a mega community event to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here next month.
The ‘Modi and America Progress Together’ event will be held on September 22 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, which has a capacity of 15,000.
The Indo-American Community of USA (IACU) on Tuesday said that over 24,000 Indian-Americans have registered to attend the mega event, a community gathering that Modi will address.
Prime Minister Modi will address the high-level United Nations General Assembly session here on September 26, according to the provisional list of speakers released by the United Nations.
Registrations for the event in Uniondale, Long Island, have been received through 590 community organisations, all of which have registered as ‘Welcome Partners’ from across the United States, the IACU said in a statement.
It said that though Indian Americans from at least 42 states are expected to attend, the response from the tri-state area has been particularly strong.
“We are committed to ensuring that as many people as possible can participate in this historic event,” said a key organiser of the event.
“We will do our best to expand the seating arrangements and coordinate with our Welcome Partners so that final seat allocations are prioritised for those who will confirm to attend.” The IACU said the ‘Modi and America’ event “promises to be a significant event celebrating the interconnected diversity of the Indian-American community.” The attendees and participating organisations will include members of a wide range of religious communities, including Jewish, Parsi, Jain, Christian, Sikh, Muslim and Hindu communities. They also represent a significant cross-section of India’s diverse languages, including Hindi, Telugu, Punjabi, Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam, Gujarati and others, the IACU said.
Apart from Prime Minister Modi’s address, the event will also feature cultural programmes and performances by prominent Indian-Americans from the fields of business, science, entertainment and arts.
The Indo-American Community of the USA (IACU) is a non-profit organization that promotes understanding and unity among the Indo-American community through cultural events and public programs.
Earlier this month, sources had told PTI that preparations were in full swing for the community event in Long Island. The event is being held ten years after PM Modi addressed a massive community gathering at New York’s famous Madison Square Garden in September 2014. The event was held just months after PM Modi took over as the Prime Minister and visited the city to attend the high-level annual General Assembly session.
In 2019, Modi addressed the mega community event ‘Howdy Modi’ at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, where he was joined by former President Donald Trump. His visit to the US this year comes just weeks ahead of the presidential elections in November, which will see a contest between Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, the first woman of Black and Indian origin to hold the top post.
This year the high-level general debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly will be held from September 24-30. According to the provisional list of speakers for the general debate released by the United Nations on Monday, India’s “Head of Government” will address the high-level session on the afternoon of September 26.
This list is not final and the UN releases an updated provisional list of speakers in the weeks prior to the High-Level Session, to reflect any revisions to the attendance, schedules and speaking times of leaders, ministers and ambassadors.
Modi was sworn in as India’s prime minister for a historic third term in June and last addressed the annual high-level UNGA session in September 2021.
Prime Minister Modi had also visited the United Nations Headquarters on June 21 last year, where he led the historic Yoga Day celebrations on the North Lawn of the world body’s headquarters before leaving for Washington DC for a state visit hosted by former President Joe Biden.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres will present his report before the general debate begins, which will be followed by an address by the President of the 79th session of the General Assembly.
Guterres is also hosting the Ambitious Future Summit at UN Headquarters during the High-Level Week, with a Day of Action scheduled for September 20-21 and a Summit on September 22-23.
World leaders will gather at the United Nations to adopt a deal for the future, which will include a global digital agreement and a declaration on future generations as an annexes.
The UN says, “The Summit is a high-level event bringing together world leaders to forge a new international consensus on how to deliver a better today and secure the future.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)