Agencies
SYDNEY, Nov 17: In a replay of the crowd and the euphoria at New York's Madison Square Garden, Indian Prime Minister NarendraModi was Monday cheered lustily by an over 16,000-strong gathering of the Indian diaspora at Sydney's Allphones Arena, where he promised to fulfill their expectations of a resurgent India. Modi, who arrived from Brisbane earlier in the day after attending the G20 summit meeting, spoke for an hour at the Allphones Arena where people wore T-shirts with Modi photos emblazoned on them. Hundreds of fans had arrived by the "Modi Express" train from Melbourne in the morning. To deafening chants of "Modi, Modi" interrupting his speech, the prime minister, attired in a white kurtapyjama with a blue sleeveless jacket to match, also promised the diaspora visa on arrival and merging of the Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) cards by January. Speaking in Hindi, Modi said there was no reason for India to lag behind any longer.
"Do you believe that the country can rise again, become powerful and capable of helping other countries again," he asked to loud cheers from the crowd.
"I don't see any reason for the country to remain behind, fate has decided that it must progress," he said to wild cheers.
Organisers of the event had said Modi's address at the Allphones Arena would rival the Madison Square Garden address Sep 27 where too he had received an ecstatic welcome from an over 16,000-strong gathering of Indian diaspora.
"Overwhelmed, honoured and humbled. Will never forget this day," is how Modi tweeted later.
Modi also spoke of the schemes launched by his government, including the Clean India and Make in India programmes, and invited the diaspora to join in the Swachh Bharat campaign and contribute towards building toilets in their villages back home in India. |
