Namaste Trump: Full text of Donald Trump's speech at Ahmedabad's Motera stadium

• Follow the highlights of the US President's visit to India here at Business Insider India.
• Check out the inside look of the Presidential suite where Trump will be put up in India's national capital.
• The speech of the American President at the Motera stadium in Ahmedabad will be updated here as he speaks.

Soon after landing in Ahmedabad airport, US President Donald Trump—along with his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner—was received by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Before reaching the Motera stadium, the world's largest cricket stadium that was built recently, Trump made a quick stopover at the Sabarmati Ashram, one of the many residences of Mahatma Gandhi.

He walked onto the stage at Motera to an overwhelming cheer by thousands of Indians awaiting his arrival since early on Monday (Feb. 24). This is attempt for an encore of the 'Howdy Modi' event in Houston, Texas, hosted by the American President when Modi visited US last year.

The story will be updated as both Modi and Trump speak at the much-awaited event in Motera stadium in Ahmedabad.

Narendra Modi: Welcome to the world's largest democracy. You are in Gujarat but all of India is enthusiastically welcoming you. The spirit, the cheer, you can see all of India's diversity splashed across from the airport to this stadium.

The arrival of Trump and his family reflects the family-like close ties between the two countries. The ties between US and India is not just another partnership, it is a far greater and deeper relationship.

Even the title 'Namaste Trump' has a deeper meaning. 'Namaste' is a word from one of the oldest languages in the world which not only greets the person but also the 'divinity' inside him.

Today, you are in the banks of the Sabarmati river which had a big role in India's independence struggle. You are standing in that India whose rich diversity, and the unity in diversity, and the vibrancy in its unity, will be the base of the relationship between the two countries.

If one country is the land of the free, the other believes the whole world is one family. If you are proud of the Statue of Liberty, we are proud of the Statue of Unity (that of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel).

The ties between the two countries have strengthened under Donald Trump and we would like to thank you for that.

Donald Trump:
Namaste! Namaste!
And hello to India. This is such a great honour.

Let me begin by expressing my gratitude to an exceptional leader, a great champion of India, a man who works night and day for his country, and a man I am proud to call my true friend, Prime Minister Modi.

The First Lady and I have travelled 8,000 miles around the globe to deliver a message to every citizen of this nation. America loves India, America respects India, and America will always be faithful and loyal friends to the Indian people.

Five months ago, the United States welcomed your Prime Minsiter in a giant football stadium and today, India welcomes us at world's largest cricket stadium right here in Ahmedabad.

It is a profound honour to be here in the beautiful, new stadium with you, Motera stadium, so beautiful. And to be joined by so many distinguished guests from all across your nation.

To the hundreds and thousands of everyday citizens who came out and lined up the streets, in a display of Indian culture and kindness, and to the 125,000 people in this great stadium today, thank you for this spectacular welcome in your magnificent country.

You have done a great honour to Melania, my family, we will always remember this remarkable hospitality, we will remember it forever.

From this day on, India will always hold a very special place in our hearts. The life of Prime Minister Modi underscores the limiteless promise of this great nation. He started out by his father's side, as a chaiwala, a tea seller.

When he was young man, he worked at a cafeteria in this city. Everybody loves him but I will tell you this, he is very tough.

Today, Prime Minister Modi is the very successful leader of this vast Indian republic. Last year, more than 600 million people went to the polls and gave him a landslide victory like no other, in the largest democratic election ever held anywhere on the face of the earth.

Prime Minister Modi, you are not just the pride of Gujarat, you are living proof that with hard work and devotion, Indians can accomplish anything, anything at all, anything they want.

The Prime Minister's is a moving story of an incredible rise and so does this entire nation. Your nation is doing so well, we are very, very proud of India.

The story of the Indian nation is a tale of astounding progress, aa miracle of democracy, extraordinary diversity, and above all, you are noble people.

India gives hope to all of humanity. In just 70 years, India become an economic giant, one of the largest democracies ever to exist and one of the most amazing nations anywhere in the world.

Since the turn of the century, the size of the Indian economy has grown over 6 times in size. In a single decade, India has lifted over 270 million people out of poverty. Under Prime Minister Modi, for the first time, every village in India has access to electricity.

320 million more Indians are right now connected to the internet. The pace of highway constructions has morethan doubled, over 70 million more households, think of this, have access to cooking fuel, 600 million more people have access to basic sanitation and incredibly, 12 Indian citizens are lifted out of extreme poverty every single minute of every single day.

India will soon be home to the biggest middle class anywhere in the world, and within less than 10 years, extreme poverty in your country is projected to completely disappear.

The potential for India is absolutely incredible. India's rise as a prosperous nation is an example for every nation of the world and one of the outstanding achievements of the century. It is all the more inspiring because you have done it as a democratic country, as a peaceful country, you have done it as a tolerant country, and you done it as a great, free country.

There is all the difference in the world between a country that seeks to claim power through coercion, intimidation, and aggression, and a country that seeks to grow by setting its people free, and unleashing them to chease their dreams, and that is India.

This is why, India's accomplishment in the last 70 years is completely unrivalled no matter where you go. Your faith in the strength of a free society, your confidence in your people, your trust in your own citizens, and your respect for the dignity of every person, is what makes India and United States such a natural, beautiful, enduring, friendship.

While our nations have many differences, they are both designed and propelled by a fundamental truth, a truth that all of us are blessed by a divine light, that every person is endowed with a sacred soul. As the great religious teacher, Swami Vivekananda once said, "the moment I stand in reverence before every human being, and see God in him, that moment I am free."

In America, and in India, we know that we are born for a higher purpose, to reach towards our fullest potential, to work for excellence, perfection, and to give all glory to God. Powered by this spirit, Indians and Americans are always striving to be greater, our people are always seeking to be better, and so, our nations have become this thriving centres of cultures, commerce, and civilisation, giving light and vitality to all of the world.

This is a country that produces nearly 2,000 movies a year, from the hub of genius and creativity known as Bollywood. All over the planet, people take great joy in scenes of Bhangra music and dance, romance and drama, and classic Indian films like DDLJ (Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge) and Sholay.

This is the country where your people cheer on some of the world's greatest cricket players from Sachin Tendulkar to Virat Kohli, the greatest in the world.

This is the country that built the tallest statue to honour the memory of, the namesake of this stadium, the great Indian patriot, a native of this state, Sardar Patel.

India is a country where hundreds and millions light candles to celebrate the triumph of good over evil at Diwali. And it's where just days from now, Indians of all faiths will pour out on to the streets to celebrate the beautiful festival of Holi.

India is a country that proudly embraces freedom, liberty, individual rights, the rule of law, and the dignity of every human being. Your nation has always been admired around the earth as the place where millions upon millions of Hindus, and Muslims, Sikhs and Jains, Buddhists, Christians, and Jews worship side by side in harmony. Where you speak more than 100 languages, from more than two dozen states, but you have always stood strong as one strong Indian nation.

Your unity is an inspiration to the world and in America, we have come to know, the splendour of Indian culture personally throught the over 4 million Indian-Americans living in the United States as our wonderful friends, neighbours, and colleagues. They are truly spectacular people.

Indian-Americans enrich every aspect of our national life. They are our titans of business, the biggest, the best, pioneers of science, and masters of the art of innovation and technology like few people I have been able to see, no matter where you, anywhere in this universe. Nearly one in four Indian-Americans trace their roots right here in Gujarat. Gujarat is a special place.

So, on behalf of the entire American people,and thank you all for the contributions your culture and traditions have made to my beloved country.

Americans are eager to strengthen this beautiful ties between our people. This is truly an exciting time in the United States. The economy is booming like never before, our people are prospering, and spirits are soaring. There is tremendous love, tremendous like, we like and we love everybody. Unemployment has hit historic lows and small business confidence has hit an all-time record high in the history of our country.

Our military has been completely rebuilt. It is now stronger than ever before and we are quickly revitalising our alliances and friendships all around the world. We have spent $2.5 trillion on rebuilding our military and it is the most powerful military anywhere in the world, by far.

That is why I have come to India, in the spirit of fondness and goodwill, to expand our cherished partnership of incredible power and potential. The First Lady and I have just had the pleasure of visiting Mahatma Gandhi's ashram, a few miles from here, from where he launched the famous 'salt march'.

Tomorrow, in Delhi, we will lay a wreath, plant a tree at Rajghat in honour of this leader, who is revered all around the world. And the First Lady and I look forward to visiting one of your country's most iconic landmarks, we are later today going to see the majestic Taj Mahal.

The Prime Minister and I will also continue our important discussions about how to deepen the relationship between our two great countries. Both of us understand that when leaders put the interests of their own citizens first, we can forge strong and fair partnership to build a safer and a more prosperous world.

Just months ago, this critical partnership took a major turn when the US military and your brave Indian armed forces conducted the first ever air, land, and sea exercises between our two countries, it was something to behold. We called it 'Tiger Triumph'.

As we continue to build our defence cooperation, the United States looks forward to provide India with some of the best, and most-feared, military equipment on the planet. We make the greatest weapons ever made, aeroplanes, rockets, ships, missiles, we make the best and we are dealing now with India. But this includes advanced air defence systems, armed and unarmed aerial vehicles.

I am pleased to announce that our representatives will sign deals to sell over $3 billion in the absolute finest, state-of-the-art helicopters to the Indian armed forces. I believe the United States should be India's premier defence partner, and that's the way it's working out. Together, we will defend our sovereignty, security, and protect a free and open Indo-Pacific region for our children and many, many generations to come.

The United States and India are also firmly united in the iron-clad resolve to defend its citizens from the threat of radical Islamic terrorism. Both of our countries have been hurt by the pain and turmoil of terrorism, and that terrorism brings.

Under my administration, we unleashed the full power of the American military on bloodthirsty killers in Iraq and in Syria. Today, the ISIS territorial caliphate has been 100% destroyed, and the monster known as Al Baghdadi, the founder and leader of ISIS is dead.

In the United States, we have also made it clear that our country will always welcome newcomers who share our values, and love our people, our borders will always be closed to terrorists and terrorism and any form of extremism.

That is why we have taken historic steps of screening and vetting applications for entry, and we are working to ensure that anyone who threatens our citizens is denied admission and will pay a very, very big, costly price.

Every nation has the right to secure and controlled borders. The United States and India are committed to working together to stop terrorists, and to fight their ideology. With this reason, since taking office, my administration is working in a very positive way with Pakistan to crack down on the terrorist organisations and militants that operate on the Pakistani border.

Our relationship with Pakistan is a very good one and thanks to these efforts, we are beginning to see signs of big progress with Pakistan. And we are hopeful of reduced tension, and greater stability and future harmony for all of the nations of South Asia.

India has an important leadership role to play in shaping a better future, as you take on the responsibility of solving problems and promoting peace throughout this incredible region.

Over the course of my visit, Prime Minister Modi and I will also discuss our efforts to expand the economic ties between our two countries. We will be making a very, very major, among the biggest ever made trade deals.

We are in the early stages of a discussion for an incredible trade deal to reduce barriers of investments between the United States and India and I am optimistic that, working together, the Prime Minister and I can reach a fantastic deal that is good, and even great for both of our countries. Except that he is a very tough negotiator.

Since my inauguration, commerce between our two nations has increased by more than 40%. India's now a major market for American exports and the US is India's largest export market. A booming America is a great thing for India and its great for the world and that's why we are happy to announce that we have had the greatest economy ever in the history of United States.

In America, we have proven that the best way to attract jobs and opportunity is to reduce burdens on business, knock down barriers to new investment and eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy, red tape, regulation and taxes.

Prime Minsiter Modi has already made significant reforms in your country, as you very well know. The world looks forward to even more rapid improvement to India's business climate under his leadership. He wants to do it and he is doing it at a record pace.

Two years ago, Prime Minister Modi warml welcomed my daughter Ivanka to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad and she is back with us today. We are delighted to be joined as well by dozens of Indian women entrepreneurs who are helping to build your nation's future. They are great and natural entrepreneurs. And I just say to the men, be very careful, they are really good.

The United States and India are also working together on the future of space exploration. You are making impressive strides with your exciting Chandrayaan lunar programme. It is moving along far ahead of schedule, and America looks forward to expanding our space cooperation as you push even further, you are pushing the limits, and that's a great thing including in the realm of human space flight.

The US and India will be friends and partners in our voyage into the stars and into space. It is truly extraordinary what this nation has achieved of just one lifetime and what they have done under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi. It's absolutely incredible, Mr Prime Minister, congratulations.

You have come so far but it is nothing compared to how far India will go into the future and the Prime Minister is laying the foundation for the future like few other countries can even think of. This nation is blessed with many treasures from the sacred banks of the Ganges to the Golden Temple and the Jama Masjid, it is home to some of the most cherished heritage anywhere on earth.

It is also the land of stunning vistas and astounding natural wonders, from the rugged peaks of the Himalayas to the splendid shores of Goa. India has always been a wellspring of deep wisdom and great ideas from the Vedas and the ancient epics all the way to the modern Indian nation.

But standing before today, I know that the true strength of India is not found in its text books, in its landmarks, or its landscapes. The true strength of India is found in 125,000 beating hearts in this stadium and the millions and millions of people who have seen and witnessed our great friendship and admiration today.

It is all found in the soul and spirit of the Indian people. Your courage won and secured this nation's independence. Your devotion built this great and enduring democracy. And it is your dreams that will power this country to the future with even greater progress, prosperity, equality and opportunity for every citizen across your land.

So, today I say to every India, north and south, Hindu or Muslim, Jewish and Christian, young and old, take pride in the glories of your past, unite for an even brighter future, and let our two nations always stand together as powerful defenders of peace and liberty. And the hope of a better world for all humanity.

Thank you again Prime Minister Modi for your hospitality and thank you India for this phenomenal welcome. I want to leave just by 'God Bless India', 'God Bless the United States of America', we love you, we love you very much. Thank you!


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