President Trump may be even more popular in India than he is at home
Over a HUNDRED THOUSAND people crammed into a gigantic sports stadium in India Monday to give President Trump a Bollywood level greeting on his first state visit to the country.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
Incredible scenes unfolded as Trump spoke to the adoring masses:
“Namaste, and hello to India. This is such a great honor,” Trump told the rapturous audience.
“The first lady and I have just traveled 8,000 miles around the world to deliver a message to every citizen across this nation: America loves India, America respects India, and America will always be faithful and loyal friends to the Indian people.” the President added.
He announced that India will purchase several military-grade helicopters from the US as part of a defense deal valued at more than $3 billion.
Trump revelled in the cheers of those packed into the Sardar Patel Stadium, one of the largest on the planet.
“The United States looks forward to providing India with the best and most-feared military equipment on the planet. We make the greatest weapons ever made — airplanes, missiles, rockets, ships. We make the best, and we are dealing now with India,” Trump urged.
During his speech at the #NamasteTrump programme, @POTUS @realDonaldTrump highlighted aspects of his vision for USA. He also spoke at length about India’s greatness as well as the greatness of our culture, ethos, people and more. I thank him for his kind words. pic.twitter.com/T2trutWPqY
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 24, 2020
प्रथम महिला और मैं इस देश के हर नागरिक को एक सन्देश देने के लिए दुनिया का 8000 मील का चक्कर लगा कर यहां आये हैं l अमेरिका भारत को प्रेम करता है – अमेरिका भारत का सम्मान करता है – और
अमरीका के लोग हमेशा भारत के लोगों के सच्चे और निष्ठावान दोस्त रहेंगे l https://t.co/1yOmQOEnXE— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2020
The President later visited the iconic Taj Mahal with the First Lady:
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
Meanwhile, violence erupted in Delhi over the Citizenship Amendment Act, a law passed by the Indian government that critics say could be used to strip the country’s Muslim population of their citizenship.
The clashes between police and agitators were most prevalent in Shaheen Bagh, a Muslim majority locality where a few hundred women have been holding a sit-in protest against Trump’s visit for the past two months.
Yawar Nazir/ Getty Images