Donald Trump arrives in India, greeted by Modi at airport

February 24: US President Donald Trump landed in the Indian city of Ahmedabad on Monday morning. A  22-km long roadshow from the Ahmedabad International Airport marked his arrival. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was at the airport to greet Trump and his wife, Melania, as they stepped off Air Force One. The Air Force One plane carrying Trump and his wife Melania landed at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel international airport here at 11.37 AM.

Artistes and performers from many states were allotted a stage on the entire route to perform in their traditional attire. Around 50 stages were erected on the route, starting from the airport till Motera stadium via Indira bridge. The rally in Ahmedabad is a larger version of the “Howdy Modi” rally that Trump and Modi jointly appeared at in Houston to a jubilant crowd of 50,000 Indian Americans last year, where Trump likened Modi to Elvis Presley for his crowd-pulling power. During the roadshow, both the leaders are scheduled to visit Sabarmati Ashram, where Mahatma Gandhi spent 13 years during India’s freedom struggle.

After the roadshow, the two leaders will address a gathering at the Namaste Trump event at the Motera cricket stadium here this afternoon. In the stadium, many people were wearing customised white hats saying “Namaste (Greetings) Trump”, while workers handed out thousands of cardboard masks of the US president.