As authorities pull out all the stops for President Donald Trump’s visit to this city in Gujarat, the buzz words seem to be the friendship and rapport between the leaders of India and the US against a backdrop aimed at appealing to the American leader’s love for all things on a grand scale.
At least, that seems to be the message on the billboards that have come up all along the route to be taken by Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the airport in Ahmedabad to the Motera Stadium, which will be the venue for the “Namaste Trump” rally on Monday.
Among the gushing messages on the colourful and giant billboards – all featuring the images of the two leaders – are “Two dynamic personalities, one momentous occasion” and “Two great democracies at the world’s biggest cricket stadium”. Others seemed to have the Trump Organization’s real estate holdings in India in mind, with one going “Real friends bring real smile – your smile is our real estate”.
Across the city, workers are busy cleaning stretches of road, adding a fresh coat of paint to structures along the route of Trump’s motorcade and erecting barriers behind which tens of thousands of people are expected to gather. Finishing touches are being given to stages where artists from 28 states will showcase diverse arts as the leaders make their way to the stadium with a capacity of 110,000.
And while Trump may not get the numbers he has repeatedly spoken of in recent public comments – from five million to 10 million – the state government is trying to ensure that the turnout will be large, or at least “millions of citizens”, according to a video tweeted by Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani on Saturday.
{{/usCountry}}And while Trump may not get the numbers he has repeatedly spoken of in recent public comments – from five million to 10 million – the state government is trying to ensure that the turnout will be large, or at least “millions of citizens”, according to a video tweeted by Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani on Saturday.
{{/usCountry}}For Trump, the “Namaste Trump” rally will help him woo the influential Indian-American community as he prepares to kick start his re-election campaign. For the Indian government, Trump’s rare stand-alone visit to the country will help showcase the growing strategic partnership with the US despite hiccups such as the inability to finalise a limited trade package after months of negotiations.
Trump is also more popular in India than in many countries around the world, with the Pew Research Center’s polls showing support for him has grown almost four-fold since 2016. The latest survey showed 56% percent of Indians have a positive view of him.
Monday’s event will focus on pomp and spectacle akin to that witnessed at the “Howdy Trump!” rally in Houston last September before the two leaders get down to serious business in more substantive engagements in New Delhi on Tuesday.
A senior US administration official said on Friday that Trump’s visit will reflect the strong and enduring ties between the two sides, but that he is also expected to raise touchy issues such as religious freedom, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Kashmir, both in public remarks and in private.
Indian officials have said the government has engaged the US administration and Congress on such matters and there is a fair amount of acknowledgement of New Delhi’s position on these “internal matters”. “These issues are behind us and we don’t expect them to be a major factor in the exchanges,” said a person who declined to be identified.