India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to rock Madison Square Garden
Indian leader to take stage at Madison Square Garden in front of 18,000 people, in his first visit in charge of world's biggest democracy
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his first trip to New York as leader of the world's most populous democracy, will draw perhaps the largest crowd by a foreign leader on US soil when he takes the stage on Sunday in Madison Square Garden before around 18,000 people.
Thousands more are expected to pack New York's Times Square to watch his address in Hindi, as well as smaller viewing parties around the country and on television in India.
The Indian diaspora hopes this visit by a leader who was until recently barred from the United States will signify India's importance not only on these shores but in wider the world too.
The event is being emceed by prominent members of the Indian American community Nina Davuluri, who has just relinquished her crown as Miss America 2014, and television journalist Hari Sreenivasan.
"Indian citizens and diaspora over the world are hopeful that this [Modi] administration will cut bureaucracy and focus on people," said Dr Dinesh Patel, chief of arthroscopic surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, who arrived in the US more than 50 years ago.
Patel, who says he was given an award for work in education by Modi, a fellow Gujarati, added: "People are passionate to see the new leader. Another Narendra is coming to this country to let the USA know what India is about."
