The organisers of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s much-touted address to the diaspora community in New York City on September 28 announced that the 20,000-capacity Madison Square Garden (MSG) stadium has completely sold out and is currently oversubscribed.
Those who were unable to obtain one of the 18,000 free tickets made available via the PMVisit.org website would have to settle for watching a live broadcast his speech in New York’s Times Square, the organisers said on Wednesday, adding that there would also be numerous “watch parties” around the country.
Mr. Modi is arriving in New York on September 27 and will participate in the United Nations General Assembly before delivering his address at MSG. On September 29 he will depart for Washington, where he is scheduled to hold a closely-watched summit meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama.
Excitement surrounding the Prime Minister’s visit has been unprecedented within the Indian-American community, especially as Mr. Modi was subject to a nine-year visa ban by the U.S. administration in 2005 because he presided over Gujarat during the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom in which more than 1,000 people were killed.
The Indian American Community Foundation, the group behind the event, said that in the face of continued requests for tickets they were brainstorming “more ways to let the community participate.”
Anand Shah, Spokesperson for IACF, added, “That is why we decided to broadcast the event in Times Square, stream it online at >www.pmvisit.org , and provide English subtitles and audio translation – ensuring that as many people as possible could be part of what promises to be one of the largest ever gatherings to hear a foreign leader speak on American soil.”
With the luckier among the thousands of applicants set to receive their tickets by the end of this week or early next week, the IACF promised that preceding Mr. Modi’s speech, there would be a “spectacular laser light show, holograms of India’s historical luminaries, and live folk dances.”
The emcees for the MSG festivities will be Miss America 2014 Nina Davuluri, the first Indian-American to win that crown, and Hari Sreenivasan, a PBS NewsHour Weekend Anchor.
On the significance of Mr. Modi’s address there Mr. Shah said, “Prime Minister Modi taking the stage along with dozens of America’s most important political leaders in front of tens of thousands of cheering supporters will demonstrate the potential of a relationship across borders.”
