He was introduced onstage by Prime Minister David Cameron, who has often been by Modi’s side on the trip, a sign of how important Britain considers the visit. “Today when India talks, it does from a position of equality”, he said. Ahead of the Indian prime minister’s London trip, activists belonging to the U.K.-based Awaaz Network said that they projected an image of Modi along with the words “Not Welcome” and a swastika-style “om” symbol on the Palace of Westminster Sunday night.
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Modi’s ambitious plans to modernize India and his pro-business agenda have won him many fans among the 1.5 million people of Indian origin in Britain. It could be argued that a thread of complementarity is binding the economies of the two countries, and the two Prime Ministers and their aides are working around this mutual need.
But the 60,157 people who had secured tickets, many of them British Indians, were not only here for the speeches, but to celebrate their dual identities. Slick videos highlighted India’s economic prowess, in a muscular production underscoring the country’s shift from British colonial possession to a global power courted for its vast markets, deep-pocketed investors and strategic importance.
Asked about these concerns at his joint news conference with Cameron, Modi said India was a vibrant democracy in which individual rights were guaranteed by the constitution. Why would no-nonsense global corporations operating out of London announce a slew of investments in India worth $15 billion in sectors like retail, telecommunications, alternative energy, healthcare, logistics, education, among others, if the India story has become stale? That’s when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the 70,000 strong Diaspora. The London Philharmonic Orchestra was also there as several artistes presented classical Indian dances and Bollywood songs, along with folk and contemporary music. He renewed his pitch for India getting a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.
People intermittently shouted “Modi, Modi” as the prime minister delivered the speech.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to create a “modern, dynamic partnership” with India. These fascist sympathizers want India to be a state for Hindus only, and not any other minorities.
They also launched a rupee bond for Indian railways; Cameron says he wants to support India’s efforts to improve its infrastructure.
Schoolchildren lined the stage, a the national anthems of the United Kingdom and India were sung before the two leaders addressed the audience. At the BRICS meeting, Modi said the attacks in Paris and Beirut “remind us of terror’s growing spread and impact”. “In the next 1,000 days we will ensure they get it”, he said on the second day of his three-day visit to Britain. Modi gifted the British monarch a set of photographs from her first visit to India in 1961, award-winning Darjeeling tea, quality honey from Jammu and Kashmir Tanchoi stoles that are a speciality of Varanasi.
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On Saturday, Modi will leave Britain for Turkey where he will attend the annual G-20 summit.
