NEW DELHI: Hours ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit, PM Narendra Modi on Sunday said the country was eager to welcome him. “India looks forward to welcoming @POTUS @realDonaldTrump. It is an honour that he will be with us tomorrow, starting with the historic programme in Ahmedabad!” Modi tweeted. Trump and his delegation will arrive at 11.40 am in Ahmedabad on Monday after which they will proceed to the Sabarmati Ashram enroute to the newly built Motera stadium, where the two leaders will address an event ‘Namaste Trump’.
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The rally is likely to be attended by over 1 lakh people while the roadshow will feature artists from 28 states depicting their local culture. Meanwhile, authorities in Ahmedabad are leaving no stone unturned to ensure the smooth four-hour stay of the US president and his family. Fumigation drives have been taken up and security personnel have been deployed along the route of the nearly 20-km roadshow. “There is a policeman at every 50 meters along the route to ensure that no untoward incident occurs,” an Ahmedabad municipality official said. Namaste Trump will be held on the lines of the Howdy! Modi event held in Houston, Texas in September last year.
Following the event, the US President and his entourage of 12 delegates will head to Agra and then to Delhi for official engagements on Tuesday.The US president will also visit Agra where he will visit the Taj Mahal in the evening, before leaving for Delhi. Before leaving for India, Ivanka, Donald Trump’s daughter and a senior adviser, in a tweet said that she is ‘honored to return’ to India. “Two years after joining @narendramodi at the Global Entrepreneurial Summit in Hyderabad, I am honoured to return to India with @POTUS and @FLOTUS to celebrate that the grand friendship between the world’s two largest democracies has never been stronger!,” she tweeted.
Entry gate at Motera stadium collapses
A day before US President Donald Trump’s visit to Ahmedabad, a makeshift VVIP entry gate erected outside the cricket stadium in Motera collapsed due to gusty winds on Sunday, an official said. The entire incident was recorded by a bystander and aired on local television channels. The makeshift entry gate was made of welded steel rods and covered in flex banners. After sometime, a portion of another makeshift gate structure at the stadium’s main entrance also collapsed due to the windy weather, another official said.
Agra decked up to welcome Prez & team
UP Governor Anandiben Patel and CM Yogi Adityanath will welcome US President Donald Trump on his arrival at the airport in Agra
250 artistes will perform at the airport in UP
3,000 artistes spread over 21 designated areas will present dance forms of Brij, Awadh and other regions, like Krishna Leela, dances themed on Radha, along the route to the Taj Mahal
3 layer security tomorrow, the innermost being of the US Secret Service, followed by UP Police and paramilitary forces, and also NSG
and PAC.
UP police commandos, and personnel of police and paramilitary forces also kept a tight vigil in and around the Taj Mahal premises
Famous Gujarati delicacy on menu
Past American presidential visits