The President of the United States of America – Donald Trump is expected to deliver a major 30-minute speech on India and Indian Americans at the much-awaited “Howdy, Modi!” event in the Houston, Texas on Sunday. Earlier, it was speculated that President Trump will either make a guest appearance or will merely make some announcements at the event.
According to the reports, Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, who will be present alongside at the “Howdy, Modi! Shared Dreams, Bright Futures” event is expected to make a notional brief remark at the diaspora event. The US officials asserted that the Trump speech at the event will bring fresh energy in the long-lasting relationship between the two democracies.
Trump, who had once promised to be India’s best friend, is flying to Houston only to attend the “Howdy, Modi!” event. However, it will not just be a guest appearance by the Trump but he is also expected to make a significant speech at the event.
As per the schedule released by the White House on late Saturday night, Trump will spend 100 minutes at the NRG Stadium. While the duration of his speech is not yet known, it is believed his remarks could last as long as 30 minutes. He is also expected to be present in the audience during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address.
“It will be a great opportunity to emphasise the strong ties between the people of the United States and India, to reaffirm the strategic partnership between the world’s oldest and largest democracies, and to discuss ways to deepen their energy and trade relationship,” White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham had said last week.
From Houston, Trump will travel to Wapakoneta in Ohio, where he will be joined by Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison for a tour of a new Australian-owned manufacturing facility. From Ohio, Trump will fly to New York to attend the annual session of the UN General Assembly.
For the ‘Howdy, Modi!’ event, more than 50,000 supporters have already registered for the mega community summit which will be held at the NRG Stadium, the host Texas India Forum (TIF), a Houston-based non-profit body, said.
The Howdy event will be the largest ever event addressed by an Indian Prime Minister in North America and also the largest for a foreign leader in the US other than Pope Francis. The Howdy event will be Prime Minister Modi’s third major address to the Indian-American community after he became PM in 2014 and the first after his re-election in May. The previous two were at the Madison Square Garden in New York in 2014 and the Silicon Valley in 2016. Both the events were attended by more than 20,000 people.
