Record crowd expected for Trump at cricket ground

More than 100,000 people are expected to pack into the world’s biggest cricket stadium later this month when it is formally opened during a visit to India by US President Donald Trump, officials said.
Workers in Ahmedabad are rushing to finish the 110,000-capacity Sardar Patel Stadium, which will overtake the 100,000-seater Melbourne Cricket Ground as the world’s biggest cricket venue.
Trump and wife Melania are due for a two-day visit to India on February 24, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to host them in his home state of Gujarat.
The spectacle has been dubbed “Kem Chho Trump”, or “How Are You Trump”, according to officials.
In a tweet, Modi said: “Extremely delighted that POTUS Donald Trump and First Lady will visit India on 24th and 25th February. India will accord a memorable welcome to our esteemed guests. This visit is a very special one and it will go a long way in further cementing India-US friendship.”
Recalling that “India and USA share a common commitment to democracy and pluralism”, Modi said, “Our nations are co-operating extensively on a wide range of issues. Robust friendship between our nations augurs well not only for our citizens but also for the entire world.”
Trump at a press conference in Washington DC on Tuesday revealed that Modi has organised a grand welcome for him in Ahmedabad.
“He said we will have millions and millions of people. My only problem is that last night we probably had 40 or 50,000 people... I’m not going to feel so good... There will be 5 to 7mn people just from the airport to the new stadium,” he said.
Trump and Modi share a very good rapport.
Sources said Trump and Modi will do a roadshow from the Ahmedabad airport and visit Sabarmati Ashram to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.
Later, Trump will inaugurate the stadium.
Trump is likely to sign a limited trade deal with Modi, ahead of US presidential elections later this year.
He hopes to draw votes from the Indian diaspora in the US along with his core constituency to which he promised in the last elections that he will secure better terms for trade from America’s key trading partners.
Last year Trump was guest of honour at Houston’s NRG Stadium in Texas at a rally for the prime minister called “Hello Modi”, attended by 50,000 people from the subcontinent’s vast diaspora.
Modi has a long tradition of hosting world leaders in his home state, which is one of the wealthiest in the country of 1.3bn people.
China’s President Xi Jinping went there in 2014, and visits followed by Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu and then UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon.