Join over 24,000 enthusiastic Indian-Americans as they gather in New York for a historic event featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pivotal address, celebrating unity, pride, and the strength of the diaspora.
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Indian Diaspora to Congregate for Mega Event in New York
Over 24,000 Indian-Americans have signed up to attend one of the highest-profile community events, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to speak in New York. Titled “Modi & US: Progress Together,” the mega-event will be held on September 22 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, Long Island. The coliseum seats 15,000 people, and attendees will come from across the country, representing a decent chunk of the Indian diaspora.
Unprecedented Participation by Indian-Americans
The host of the event, Indo-American Community of USA – IACU – in a release said that the registrations for the event have come through 590 community organizations spread across the country, known as “Welcome Partners” in working in tandem with IACU. These “Welcome Partners” reportedly mobilized Indian-Americans representing at least 42 states. The tri-state area has come out in full force in support of the event. Organizers have been working to extend seating arrangements, as well as making as many people involved in what they describe as a “historic event” as possible.
Celebration of Diversity and Unity
This “Modi & US” event seems to promise a splendid celebration of interwoven diversity within the Indian-American community. IACU outlined that attendees and participating organizations would represent a broad spectrum of religious and linguistic communities spanning members of the Jewish, Zoroastrian, Jain, Christian, Sikh, Muslim, and Hindu faiths. The linguistic diversity of India will be displayed on its great side, with participants speaking in Hindi, Telugu, Punjabi, Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam, Gujarati, and several other languages.
Cultural Performances and Outstanding Personalities
A partial list of activities planned for the event includes cultural performances and appearances by several prominent Indian-Americans from the worlds of business, science, and the arts and entertainment. The event somewhat mirrors a handful of other previous events where Prime Minister Modi has appeared before the Indian diaspora in the United States, including one at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2014 and the “Howdy Modi” event in Houston, Texas, in 2019, which featured former President Donald Trump.
PM Modi to Address UNGA Soon
Prime Minister Modi’s visit to New York coincides with his scheduled address at the high-level session of the UN General Assembly on September 26. According to the provisional list of speakers issued by the UN, Modi will speak in the afternoon session. The high-level General Debate of the 79th session of the UNGA will take place from September 24 to 30. The speakers list, however, is liable to amendment, and updated versions are normally issued by the UN in weeks preceding the event.
Historic Significance of Modi’s Address
This will be the first address by Prime Minister Modi to the UNGA after he started his third term in office in June. He last spoke at the annual high-level UNGA session in September 2021. Modi’s attendance at the UN also comes months after his visit to the UN headquarters in June last year, where he led the International Yoga Day celebration at the North Lawn before taking on to a State Visit hosted by President Joe Biden in Washington DC.
UNGA’s High-Level Week and Summit of the Future
This year’s high-level week at the UN is going to be replete with monumental events, one of which will be the Summit of the Future on September 22-23. Under the auspices of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, world leaders will come together at the summit to adopt the Pact for the Future, entailing both a Global Digital Compact and a Declaration on Future Generations. The UN hails the summit as an “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build the new international consensus” for providing a better today and securing a safer future.
Upcoming events like “Modi & US” and the address of Prime Minister Modi at the UNGA add to the continuous testimony of engagement between India and the global world community, especially with its Indian diaspora in America. As these events take further shape, they are bound to turn the rich cultural and diverse landscape of the Indian-American diaspora into current hotbed topics, drawing United Nations attention toward key international issues.
