MODI VOWS TO MAKE INDIA PROUD

MODI VOWS TO MAKE INDIA PROUD

മോഡിക്ക്‌ യു.എസില്‍ ലഭിച്ചത്‌ രാജകീയ സ്വീകരണമെന്ന്‌ പാക്ക്‌ ദിനപ്പത്രം

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi basked in a rock star US welcome as he vowed to build a strong, confident country ahead of his first White House summit Monday.In a massive show of support for a right-wing leader once shunned by Washington, some 18,500 people of Indian origin from across the United States and Canada packed Sunday into New York's Madison Square Garden, where they chanted his name and wore T-shirts bearing his picture.Modi, who Monday will enjoy a red carpet welcome at the White House, renewed campaign pledges to unlock India's economic potential by streamlining bureaucracy.He hailed Indian Americans for showing an example through their professional successes.

“There was a time when people thought that we were a country of snake-charmers,” Modi said.“Our people used to play with snakes, but now they play with the mouse — and that mouse makes the whole world run."Modi promised to start lifetime visas for foreigners of Indian origin and, endorsing a proposal of the previous government without setting a date, to issue visas on arrival for US citizens.

Modi promised to start lifetime visas for foreigners of Indian origin and, endorsing a proposal of the previous government without setting a date, to issue visas on arrival for US citizens.

“This kind of love has not been given to any Indian leader ever,” he said of the Indian-American reception. Modi, who won India's widest electoral victory in three decades in April-May elections, fired back at critics who have urged him to launch quicker reforms as he recalled his humble background running a tea stall as a teenager.

“People ask for a big vision? Well, I got here by selling tea,” Modi, speaking for an hour in Hindi without notes, said to thunderous applause.“I'm a very modest man, and that's why I plan to do big things for modest people,” he said, listing promises that include building more toilets and cleaning the Ganges holy river.Pointing to US leaders' statements that Asia will dominate the 21st century, Modi said: “And some say it will be India's century. India has the capacity to achieve that potential." More than 30 US members of Congress took part in the reception that warmed up with Bollywood and traditional dances. But from the start, the crowd chanted for Modi, leading an emcee to warn that the event was not a “campaign rally."While foreign leaders often hold community receptions when visiting the United States, an event on the scale of Modi's is exceedingly rare, with only popes packing stadiums.But US-based supporters have campaigned for years to boost the image of Modi, who was refused a visa by the United States in 2005 on human rights grounds over anti-Muslim riots when he was leader of the western state of Gujarat.Modi has denied wrongdoing and was never charged. The United States rushed to court Modi as it became clear he would take power, with Obama taking the unusual step of meeting him over two days.In another shift, Modi met in New York with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the first substantive meeting between the two countries' leaders in 11 years.An upbeat Netanyahu said he was “delighted” to meet Modi and invited him to visit Israel, in what would be a first for an Indian prime minister.

“We are very excited by the prospects of greater and greater ties with India. We think the sky's the limit,” Netanyahu said.

Modi proudly told Netanyahu of India's ancient Jewish community, saying that his was “the only country where anti-Semitism has never been allowed to come up and Jews have never suffered."The last Hindu nationalist government in 2003 welcomed Ariel Sharon on the first-ever visit by an Israeli leader.But the subsequent government of the Congress party, which leans left and enjoys strong support from the Muslim minority, avoided high-profile meetings even as trade and defence ties soared

.പ്രധാനമന്ത്രി നരേന്ദ്ര മോഡിക്ക് യു.എസില് ലഭിച്ചത് രാജകീയ സ്വീകരണമെന്ന് പാക്ക് ദിനപ്പത്രം. ദ നേഷന് എന്ന പാക്ക് മാധ്യമത്തിന്റെ എഡിറ്റോറിയലിലാണ് മോഡിയുടെ യു.എസ് സന്ദര്ശനത്തെ വിലയിരുത്തിയത്. പാക്ക് പ്രധാനമന്ത്രി നവാസ് ഷെരീഫിനേക്കാള് മികച്ച സ്വീകരണമാണ് മോഡിക്ക് യു.എസില് ലഭിച്ചതെന്ന് പാക്ക് മാധ്യമം വിലയിരുത്തുന്നു.ഫെരീഫിന് പാക്ക് യു.എന്നില് മാത്രമാണ് ശ്രദ്ധേയമായ വേദി കിട്ടിയതെന്നും നേഷന് പറയുന്നു. സിലിക്കണ് വാലിയില് ടെക് ഭീമന്മാരുടെ ആസ്ഥാനത്ത് മോഡി നടത്തിയ സന്ദര്ശനത്തിനും വന് വാര്ത്താ പ്രാധാന്യം ലഭിച്ചിരുന്നു. ആപ്പിള്, ഗൂഗിള്, മൈക്രോസോഫ്റ്റ് തുടങ്ങിയ കമ്പനികളുടെ ആസ്ഥാനത്താണ് മോഡി സന്ദര്ശനം നടത്തിയത്.

ശത്രുക്കളെപ്പോലും കയ്യിലെടുക്കാനുള്ള തന്ത്രങ്ങള് മോഡിക്ക് അറിയാമെന്ന് പത്രം നിരീക്ഷിക്കുന്നു. ഇന്ത്യയുടെ രാഷ്ട്രീയ, സൈനിക ആധിപത്യമാണ് മോഡി ലക്ഷ്യം വയ്ക്കുന്നതെന്നും പത്രം കൂട്ടിച്ചേര്ക്കുന്നു.

Prof . John Kurakar