‘Your visit is definitely going to further strengthen the friendship between our nations,’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted ahead of Trump’s arrival.
Tens of thousands of people, many of them wearing white hats saying ‘Namaste Trump’ or cardboard masks of Trump, have lined up along the route to the giant stadium to welcome the US President.
The two leaders made a brief halt at Sabarmati Ashram, located on the banks of the Sabarmati river and the place and where Mahatma Gandhi lived between 1917 and 1930. The delegation is now headed to Motera stadium for the ‘Namaste Trump’ event, on the lines of the grand welcome accorded to PM Modi in the US with the ‘Howdy Modi’ event.
At the ashram, the two dignitaries also tried their hands at the ‘charkha’, the hand spinning wheel which symbolises India’s quest for self-reliance during the freedom struggle.
As his motorcade makes its way along a 22-km route, it is passing 28 stages featuring artistes from as many states and exhibits depicting different aspects of Mahatma Gandhi’s life and struggle for the country’s independence.
The arrangements along the route are being billed as the ‘India Road Show’, with officials saying this exhibition of the country’s diverse culture and heritage for Trump has few parallels in India or elsewhere.
After addressing the rally along with Modi, Trump and his delegation will fly to Agra so that he and First Lady Melania Trump can spend some time at the Taj Mahal before sunset. The US delegation will then fly to Delhi, where Trump and Modi will hold wide-ranging talks on Tuesday.
Trump’s two-day visit is expected to scale up bilateral ties between the two countries, though a big announcement of a trade deal is not expected.
During the talks, Modi and Trump are expected to focus on a wide range of bilateral and regional issues including trade and investment, defence and security, counter-terrorism, energy security, religious freedom, proposed peace deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan and the situation in the Indo-Pacific, according to officials.
