Howdy Modi: Will be in Houston to be with my friend, says Trump

Washington, Sep 22: United States President Donald Trump, who is on his way to Houston to join Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Howdy Modi event, took to Twitter and said "Will be in Houston to be with my friend."

"Will be in Houston to be with my friend. Will be a great day in Texas!" the US President tweeted.

"Look forward to being with our great India loving community!" he said in another tweet.

"We'll be going to Houston and we'll be at a very nice big stadium packed full of people with Prime Minister Modi," Trump told reporters on the South Lawns of the White House before he left for Houston, where he and Modi would address over 50,000 Indian-Americans at the NRG Stadium.

"He (Modi) asked if I would go with him and I've accepted and We're going to have a good time," Trump said minutes before he boarded Marine One from the White House lawns.

"I hear it's a tremendous crowd," he added. Organised by the non-profit Texas India Forum, the event, with the tagline 'Shared Dreams, Bright Futures', will shine light on the tremendous contribution of Indo-Americans in United States and the strong and lasting partnership between the US and India.
The cultural programme preceding Prime Minister Modi's address, showcasing Indian-American artists from Texas and elsewhere, will portray how the community is woven into the larger tapestry of American life. It will involve broad-based community participation across the United States. The 90-minute music, dance, and multimedia show features close to 400 artists and community members from Texas and across the nation.

There are 27 groups performing in a live and multimedia experience that will showcase the diversity in the Indian-American community, organisers said.

"A challenge that many second and third generation Indian-Americans go through is navigating the complexity of having a hyphenated identity as an Indian and an American. Woven showcases the multiplicity of Indian-American experience.

Our hope is that each person sees themselves in at least one form of expression and recognises that whatever mix of Indian and American they are, it is just right," said Heena Patel, CEO of MELA Arts Connect and co-producer of the program. The show will also shine a light on unsung heroes in the Indian-American community who have undertaken selfless acts benefiting the broader American community without any need of recognition.