Houston: 50,000 people register in 3 weeks for Modi address

Over 50,000 people have registered for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address at in the NRG Stadium in Houston, US next month.

The registrations were garnered over a period of three weeks.

The event titled 'Howdy, Modi!' is being hosted by the Texas India Forum. The summit, with the theme of "Shared Dreams, Bright Futures" will highlight the contributions of Indian-Americans in enriching the American life for the last seven decades as well as the key role they have played in strengthening relations between the two nations.

If half million people will attend the event, it will be the largest live audience which will be addressed by any Indian Prime Minister in North America.

"In an unprecedented gathering of Indian-Americans in the United States, over 50,000 attendees have registered in the past three weeks for a sold-out "Howdy, Modi" community summit featuring India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, September 22nd at the NRG stadium," said an official statement by an organising committee.

Senator for Texas John Cornyn, who co-chairs Senate India Caucus, has welcomed the prime minister to Houston.

"On behalf of the hundreds of thousands of Indian-Americans in Texas, and as co-chair of the Senate India Caucus, I welcome Prime Minister Modi to Houston," said Cornyn. "India continues to be the key security and economic partner of the United States, and I look forward to seeing that relationship strengthen with his visit to Texas."

The event holds significance as India is Houston's fourth-largest trading partner, just behind Brazil, China, and Mexico. Further, from 2009 to 2018, trade between Houston and India averaged USD 4.8 billion annually and was valued at USD 7.2 billion in 2018, the statement mentioned.

There are more than 130,000 individuals of Indian origin in the Houston area, according to the American Community Survey in 2017.

The organiser Jugal Malani said the program will provide a unique view on the Indian-American experience.

"The cultural program will provide a unique view on the Indian-American experience, and promises to show the diversity of our community while being an engaging and entertaining performance," said JugalMalani, chair of the 'Howdy, Modi!' organizing committee.

"We want the entire city of Houston to enjoy the festivities and learn about both growing Texas- India relations and US-India relations," he added.