Donald Trump’s India visit possible due to PM’s vibrant leadership

Shimla, Mar 01: The recent standalone visit to India by US President Donald Trump was a result of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "vibrant leadership", BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda claimed on Friday.

Speaking at a public meeting at Jhandutta in Himachal Pradesh's Bilaspur district, Nadda also claimed that Trump had praised Modi and India for 20 minutes during his 28-minute-long speech at Gujarat's Motera Stadium.

It was probably the first time that a US president travelled 8,000 kms to India on the request of an Indian PM without stopping over in any other country on the way, the BJP chief said.

"This speaks of India's commanding position in the world and it has become possible due to the vibrant and strong leadership of Modi," said Nadda.

During his 28-minute speech at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad, Trump spent 20 minutes praising Modi and India, he claimed.

Nadda also credited Modi for the growth of the country's economy.

India has become the world's fifth-largest economy and will emerge at the top in the next few years, the BJP chief said.

The country is on its way to becoming a 5 trillion dollar economy under Modi, he added.

Nadda's remarks came on a day when official data showed that India's GDP growth slipped to a nearly 7-year low of 4.7 per cent in October-December 2019.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth was registered at 5.6 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19, as per the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

Nadda arrived in Himachal Pradesh on a two-day visit on Thursday. This is his maiden visit to the state since he took over the BJP's reins from Union Home Minister Amit Shah last month.

Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, Union minister of state for finance and corporate affairs Anurag Thakur and state BJP chief Rajeev Bindal also attended the event.