Indian-Americans from across the US hailed the maiden speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with some saying that the speech reflects that India has arrived on the world stage with a strong voice.
"This is once in a life time opportunity. India has arrived on the world stage," said Chandrakant Patel, president, Overseas Friends of BJP and chairman of the Indian American Community Foundation, which is organising a public reception for Modi at the Madison Square Garden in New York.
A large number of Indian-Americans were seen seated in the visitors' gallery to watch Modi's maiden speech.
The visitors' gallery of the United Nations which is generally empty, that too on a Saturday, was more than half full, before Modi started delivering his speech.
Because of unprecedented security, not many people were able to come inside the UN to listen to his speech.
Simultaneously, several hundred people had gathered outside the United Nations with placards and banners 'America Loves Modi' to welcome Modi in the United States.
People in at least eight bus loads from New York and New Jersey left their homes early in the morning to attend the 'Modi welcome rally' outside the UN.
"After a long time, India has got such a leader. No one in the past has evoked such an excitement as has the prime minister," said Satya Shaw, a successful entrepreneur, who flew in from Florida for the event.
"There were many people standing outside to come to the visitors' gallery, but were not able to come due to security reasons," said a disappointed Manish Kumar, who could not watch Modi speak from the visitor’s gallery.
"I watched it on my smart phone, through UN webcast," he said: UN officials said there was quite unusual traffic on their UN webcast feed during the Modi speech.
"Naturally, the traffic was highest from India, but it was quite unusual from even countries like the US, Canada and Britain," the official said on condition of anonymity.
"We wanted to have a grand welcome to our prime minister. It is very unfortunate that a statesman like him was denied a US visa. He has a huge following here in the US," said Narayan Kataria, of the Indian-American Intellectual Forum, which organised the welcome rally in front of the UN.
"The young and vibrant Indian voice of 1.2 billion Indians, enriched by a well-rooted democracy complete with loyal opposition, spoke today through Modi - India's durable message of peace free of terror, and growth for all," said eminent Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra.
Photograph: Paresh Gandhi/Rediff.com
