Indian expats fete Modi in Dubai cricket stadium

Tens of thousands of Indian expats in Dubai feted their Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a cricket stadium in Dubai at the end of a visit aimed at boosting economic ties.

Braving high temperatures and humidity, they filled the 25,000-seat stadium waving Indian flags as their premier gave a speech in Hindi, drawing loud applause.

"You are the people who have worked hard... some for 10 years, some for 20 years and some for 30 years. You are not only earning your living, but also making India proud," Modi told the crowd.

"Even if it rains a little more in India, then the Indian living in Dubai, opens his umbrella. In times of natural disaster, the Indian in Dubai can't sleep properly," he said of their response to catastrophes at home, quoted by UAE media.

Thousands of others watched on giant screens outside the Dubai Cricket Stadium in the economic hub of the United Arab Emirates, where Indians, many of them labourers, account for about 30 percent of the eight-million population.

Modi is the first Indian premier to visit the UAE in more than three decades. The late Indira Gandhi travelled to the Emirates in 1981.

During a two-day visit, he met with Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, crown prince of oil-rich Abu Dhabi.

Modi also told a gathering of Emirati businessmen of the potential for $1,000 billion worth of investments in India, with its massive infrastructure projects, in the agricultural sector and in housing.

The premier said he would despatch India's commerce minister to discuss any problems faced by UAE investors in his country.

Source: AFP