This is why Houston was 'smartest' decision by PM's team for Howdy, Modi mega event

New Delhi, Sep 23: PM Modi's unprecedented and unconventional decision of choosing 'Houston' in US other than Washington DC, New York, etc is being praised by many.

Will let you know how important Texas is for India and why Narendra Modi chose Houston for his mega-event Howdy, Modi!:

Economy:

The economy of Texas is the second-largest in the United States. It has a gross state product of $1.645 trillion (2017), after California.
Houston most populous in Texas.
The capital of Texas is Austin, but it's noteworthy how Austin was given a short-shrift and coastal city, Houston, which is also the most populous city in the state, was chosen for a mega-event like this.

Houston-Jammu and Kashmir connection:

The coastal city, Houston is important for the US as it is the fourth most populous city of the country and most populous in Texas.

PM Modi's greeting to Kashmir Pandit community in Houston shows that Kashmir matters to him even during his international visit and his approach towards the development of Jammu and Kashmir is clear after revoking Article 370.

Houston was a smart decision by Modi's team as Jammu and Kashmir and Texas share similar histories. And Houston is symbolic for Texas' history.

Texas was part of Mexico till 1836. It rebelled against Mexico and declared independence in 1836 as the Republic of Texas. This happened under the leadership of Samuel Houston, who was born in America and had settled in Mexican Texas in the early 1830s after a brief political stint in the US.

Later, it completely merged into the United States as the 28th state of the nation. Like Pakistan, Mexico too did not recognise the independence of Texas and went on to war in this matter.

Indian Community

Texas, being one of the few areas in the US that are growing rapidly and creating jobs, attracts a substantial proportion of the roughly 65,000-80,000 Indians who go to America on an H-1B visa annually.

It is also home to around 1.3 lakh Indian-Americans who are contributing to the political and business landscape of the US.

Critical to Trump’s 2020 election

According to a Reuters report, Houston is a rare Democratic stronghold in Republican-dominated Texas and serves as the economic anchor of a state that will be critical to Trump's 2020 re-election. Polls show tepid support by Indian-American voters, some 75% of whom voted for his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, in 2016.