Is Modi ready to rock Wembley?
After the roaring success of PM Modi's speeches in New York and Sydney, the overseas friends of BJP are now getting ready for what is being described as the big daddy of all overseas events. Initial preparations are already underway to organise a mega event for the prime minister at the iconic Wembley Stadium in London.
The world famous stadium hosts major football matches such as the FA Cup Final and home matches of the England national football team. Wembley has a capacity of 90,000 fans.
Given that there are 1.5 million people of Indian origin in the United Kingdom, the organisers are confident that the event will attract more than one lakh people, including those who will be present outside the arena. Special trains like the Modi Express that ran from Melbourne to Sydney are being planned from key European cities and also special Modi flights.
The exact date for the event has not yet been finalised although January 31 is being looked at seriously as one of the possibilities. The prime minister has also been invited to unveil a statue of Mahatma Gandhi outside the British Parliament on his birth anniversary.
However, with elections due in the United Kingdom in May 2015, the prime minister's office is also considering the political consequences of going to Britain as it enters the election season. There is also an alternate view being proposed that the prime minister should only travel to the UK after the election results. Meanwhile, the PM has consented to travel to Germany in April 2014.
PMs love for selfies
There was a light moment as PMs Modi and Abbott posed for pictures with cricketing legends from both countries at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Next year's ICC World Cup and the Border-Gavaskar trophy were displayed for the dignitaries. Sunil Gavaskar told the PM that he was holding the World Cup while Tony Abbott held the Border-Gavaskar trophy. Gavaskar told the PM, "You are holding the right trophy. This is the one we want next year. India already holds the Border-Gavaskar trophy, we don't need it just now." Modi replied saying he was glad that he had picked the right trophy.
Modi's special gift to Oz PM
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi gave his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott an interesting gift. In a bid to revive the legacy of John Lang, the first Australia-born novelist, Modi presented Abbott a commemorative photo collage of Lang’s Indian connection. Lang is best remembered in India for his career as a solicitor. He unsuccessfully defended the Rani of Jhansi in 1854 against the East India Company’s policy of land seizures under the infamous Doctrine of Lapse. Modi presented the original petition filed by Lang to Abbott. Lang was a friend of India, its cultures and people, at a time when this stance was not fashionable, among white colonial gentlemen. He stood out in British India by standing up for Indians – including one of the icons of the 1857 uprising, the warrior queen known as the Rani of Jhansi.
Modi makes headlines
While signing of the Free Trade Agreement with China has been the lead headline in the Australian media, Narendra Modi too received a fair amount of positive coverage. The reputed Sydney Morning Herald devoted half the front page to Modi with the headline, "Indian PM rocks arena." The Australian too was effusive in its praise. The headline read, "A nation's master holds the masses in his spell." The text of the story in the Australian said, "Narendra Modi got a reception that Barack Obama can only wish for these days. Even Katy Perry who plays at the Allphones Arena for several nights after the Indian PM would be jealous of Modi's rockstar welcome.
Oz PM is in a big hurry
Australian PM Tony Abbott is keen on signing a Free Trade Agreement with India, similar to the deal signed with China during Xi Jinping's latest visit. Abbott suggested to Modi that the two countries agree on a 12 month timeline for signing the deal. But Modi asked why would they need 12 months to get the deal going and that they should get the deal through sooner. Abbott suggested the two countries agree on finalising the deal in six months. That didn't impress Modi and he suggested the deal be done in three months flat. Narrating this story at the MCG reception, Abbott said, “If anyone can move the Indian bureaucracy, it is Narendra Modi.”