Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads to Washington on Monday for a first meeting with President Obama, but it will be hard to top his long weekend in New York. Modi, a Hindu nationalist sworn in just four months ago, spoke before world leaders at the United Nations, appeared before a crowd of 60,000 at the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park, and on Sunday, delivered a 70-minute address to 19,000 enthusiastic Indian Americans (and Indian Canadians) in Madison Square Garden.
In Madison Square Garden, a retinue of U.S. lawmakers — U.S. senators, governors, and House members — were given polite applause, as were opening acts, but when Modi came onstage, "New York's most storied arena roared as one," says Vivian Yee at The New York Times, "as if all the Knicks, all the Rangers, Billy Joel, and Bruce Springsteen had suddenly materialized." Modi promised to clean up the Ganges River, fight corruption, foster economic growth, and generally create "the India of your dreams." Notably, he promised lifetime visas for anyone holding a card showing he or she is of Indian origin.
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