Indian PM's UAE visit: 3 days to go, details of event finally revealed

With less than three days to go for a historic UAE visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, few details have been shared about his public meeting scheduled for Monday, August 17, 2015.

Modi is scheduled for a two-day visit to the UAE on August 16-17, a day after the 69th Indian Independence Day, and a public event is scheduled on the second day of his visit at the Dubai Cricket Stadium.

Even with soaring temperatures in Dubai, the organisers maintain that there is a huge interest among the Indian community and more than 18,000 people registered to attend the event within a few hours of registrations opening at the website NamoInDubai.ae.

Additionally, the organisers maintain that they will deploy mist fans and water dispensers to keep the attendees hydrated, with the Indian business community volunteering to meet the expenses.

Speaking to Emirate 24|7, Dr B R Shetty, Member of the organising committee under the Indian Community Welfare Committee (ICWC), said preparations are ongoing.

“We have got an overwhelming response to the public appeal for prior registration through a dedicated website. Around 18,000 people have registered online within a few hours and we expect a crowd of between 40,000 to 50,000 to attend the public event.

“An event management company has been assigned to take care of the event and the Indian Prime Minister will come to Abu Dhabi on August 16, and will leave on the night of August 17 after the public meeting,” Shetty said.

“There are many volunteers who will assist the public at the venue and I will remain there as a gate keeper and volunteer too,” he added.

Preparations are ongoing at the Dubai Cricket Stadium to erect a food court and other pavilions for the visitors. At a meeting of ICWC convened at the Indian Consulate on August 10, several Indian community association representatives agreed unanimously to offer a fitting reception to Modi, who will be the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the UAE after a gap of 34 years.

It was announced in the meeting that about 35 artists will be specially flown in from India for performance at the venue, who will perform a fusion of dances from South India, some dance forms from Gujarat, Punjab and other Indian states.
Sources say about Dh4m is being contributed for the event by an Indian businessman.

However, many members of the ICWC were critical about the fact that the event is being organised in a hurry without the member association’s knowledge. The meeting in the Indian Consulate did witness some noisy scenes with some members trying to boycott the event in protest.

The event management company was yet to share the details of the public programme and evaded media quires. “We did not get all the details of the event and cannot give all the details now,” said an office staff, which skipped questions and passed on another contact in the company.

Many dignitaries including UAE officials and ministers will be attending the public programme. The organisers are trying to arrange shuttle bus service from the Global Village where car parking facility is planned for the event.
 

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