'Trump'ets Blow Loud As US President Heaps Praise On 'Modi'fied India After visiting the Sabarmati Ashram, Donald Trump addressed a gathering at the newly renovated Motera Stadium, praising Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the rich culture of India and touched upon a potential defense deal between the two countries.
By Debroop Roy
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US President Donald Trump on Monday solidified his strong ties with the Indian Prime Minister as he hailed Narendra Modi's steady rise to success while speaking at an event in Gujarat.
"PM Modi, you are not just the pride of Gujarat, you are living proof that with hard work and devotion, Indians can accomplish anything at all, anything they want," Trump said. This is his maiden visit to India and he is being accompanied by his wife Melania and daughter Ivanka.
#WATCH Gujarat: US President Donald Trump speaks about PM Narendra Modi during #NamasteyTrump event at Motera Stadium. He says, "...PM Modi started out as a 'tea wallah', he worked as a tea seller. Everybody loves him but I will tell you this, he is very tough..." #TrumpInIndia pic.twitter.com/rdrl3wqhdB
— ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2020
Trump and Modi have long been known to publicly acknowledge the strong ties between the two with the US hosting the Indian PM only months ago at the grand "Howdy Modi' event.
Laying a stone for a stronger friendship!#NamasteyTrump#TrumpInIndia pic.twitter.com/XJP4ToZRX5
— Harsh Sanghavi (@sanghaviharsh) February 24, 2020
The place for the event - the newly renovated Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad - is now the largest cricket stadium and the second largest overall, in the world with a seating capacity of 110,000. North Korea's Rungrado May Day Stadium takes the top spot with a seating capacity of 114,000.
Visit To Gandhi Ashram
Before addressing the gathering at Motera, the US President and First Lady Melania paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi by visiting the Sabarmati Ashram.
In line with tradition, Trump signed the visitor's book at the Ashram and wrote: 'To my great friend Prime Minister Modi...Thank You, Wonderful Visit!'
Children can be heard serenading the Trumps on their visit to the Gandhi Ashram, and as Pres Trump enters greetings in the Book of Visitors. pic.twitter.com/RWZnJ3z7Zb
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) February 24, 2020
Pictures of the writing have since flooded the internet and as is the case with most things on Twitter, this too found different kinds of reactions.
And this is what @barackobama had to say about the Great Mahatma possibly at Rajghat or Sabarmati. The distinction can not be more stark. pic.twitter.com/5cwirQwj3R
— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) February 24, 2020
Members of the opposition party, the Indian National Congress, also questioned the lack of any mention about Gandhi in Trump's message and compared it with former US President Barack Obama's visit to the same place years ago.
Working Closely With India
During his address, Trump also touched upon movies and cricket, mentioning cult classics such as Sholay and DDLJ as well as Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli.
Donald Trump pays tribute to "the hub of genius and creativity known as Bollywood" and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar as he addresses crowds at a rally in Ahmedabad, Indiahttps://t.co/Rny8P3oLbS pic.twitter.com/vfNDHvnV18
— Bloomberg (@business) February 24, 2020
On working with India, he said the US will provide India with some of the best military equipment. "We make the greatest weapons ever made. We make the best and we are dealing now with India," he said.
He went on to talk about how the two countries are united in fighting against radical Islamic terrorism and reaffirmed their commitment to combat terrorists and their ideology.
Trump says US-India to sign $3 billion in defense deals@justinsink, Archana Chaudhary @archchaudhary and @Jordanfabian report https://t.co/yumptXLSeE
— ThePrint (@ThePrintIndia) February 24, 2020
"We are quickly revitalising our alliances all around (the) world. We will seal defence deals worth $3 billion on Tuesday," said Trump.
