Silicon Valley to give PM Modi a rockstar-like welcome!

Remember Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s grand reception at Madison Square Garden in New York City last year. Now Indian-Americans in California have begun preparations for a similar kind of reception for Modi, who would be the only second Indian PM to visit the state with a trip planned in September to Silicon Valley, reported PTI.

To accord the grand reception at Silicon Valley, representatives of Indian-American organisations recently held their first full-fledged preparatory meeting in Sunnyvale, California.

The Indian PM would first attend the Annual General Assembly meeting of the United Nations in New York in September-end. After that, he would visit Silicon Valley and address Indian-Americans, including technology entrepreneurs.

"We have planned a community reception on the evening of September 27 at the SAP Centre, San Jose where close to 20,000 people are expected to gather to hear him speak," Khanderao Kand of newly-formed Indo-American Community of West Coast USA told PTI.

The meeting was addressed by the Indian Ambassador to the US, Arun K Singh, via a video conference.

Among others, it was attended by Consul-General of India in San Francisco, Venkatesh Ashok, and Vijay Chauthaiwale, in-charge foreign relations department of BJP.

Chauthaiwale is on a visit to San Francisco Bay Area to oversee the preparations for the reception.

"The event is a historic moment for the Indian community in Silicon Valley and the diaspora in general," he said.

Modi's visit is considered significant, especially with regard to his 'Digital India' initiative that aims to use technology in connecting people and transforming governance in India.

Moreover, he would be the second Indian PM to visit San Francisco-Bay Area after Jawahar Lal Nehru's trip in 1949.

San Francisco-Bay Area, of which Silicon Valley is a part, is home to about half-a-million-strong Indian-Americans.

Last year when Modi visited the US, he was given a grand reception at Madison Square Garden. He addressed nearly 20,000 Indian-Americans there.

(Image: Indiatimes)