'Howdy, Modi' gave push to US, India relations struggling due to commercial tensions'

Deputy Director of the Asia programme, Micheal Kugelman, on Sunday said that the "Howdy, Modi" event gave major push to the US and India relations which had been struggling due to "commercial tensions" in the recent months.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed over 50,000 Indian-Americans in Houston, Texas at the 'Howdy, Modi!' event which was also attended by US President Donald Trump.

"The objective of the event was to solidify the support Narendra Modi has from Indian-Americans. It gave a major push to the US and Indian relations which had been struggling due to commercial tensions in the recent months," Kugelman said.

He said that the two leaders, during the event, emphasized their shared concerns on terrorism in Pakistan.

Kugelman, however, asserted that Trump used the event to make an appeal to a "key voting constituencies", consisting of Indo-American community.

The community summit, the first of its scale, was held in honour of Modi, who is currently in the United States on a week-long official trip to address the UN General Assembly, amongst other engagements.

The camaraderie shared by the two leaders came to the fore during Sunday's event, right from Modi walking with Trump to the event's stage upon the US President's arrival at the stadium to the victory lap taken by Modi-Trump, hand in hand, towards the end of the community summit.