Indian PM Modi addresses 50,000 Indians in Dubai

Dubai

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday addressed the Indian diaspora at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. About 50,000 Indian expatriates had registered for ‘Marhaba Namo’ — a grand public reception held for the visiting Prime Minister.

Braving high temperatures and humidity, they filled the stadium waving Indian flags as their premier gave a speech in Hindi, drawing loud applause.

“You are the people who have worked hard... some for 10 years, some for 20 years and some for 30 years. You are not only earning your living, but also making India proud,” Modi told the crowd. “Even if it rains a little more in India, then the Indian living in Dubai, opens his umbrella. In times of natural disaster, the Indian in Dubai can’t sleep properly,” he said of their response to catastrophes at home, quoted by UAE media.

Pitching for a “decisive battle” against terrorism, Modi asked countries to choose if they are with sponsors of the menace or against them as he underlined that dialogue is the only way to resolve all issues with neighbours.

“We (India and the UAE) have spoken in one voice against terrorism,” Modi said. He added, “Those who can understand will understand ... We are victims of terrorism for 40 years. Many innocent people have lost their lives.”

“Those who indulge in terrorism must be punished. That is the message resonating here today,” he said and emphasised that gone were the days when a nomenclature of good and bad terrorism would be accepted.

“Good terrorist, bad terrorist, good Taliban, bad Taliban, this won’t work. A decision has to be taken: are you with terrorism or humanity?” Modi said that India wants good relations with all neighbouring countries.  

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 per cent 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 $1,000 billion 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.