Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday.
AFP/New York
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi basked on Sunday in a rock star welcome to the US as he vowed to work tirelessly to make his nation a major power.
In a massive show of support for a right-wing leader once shunned by Washington, some 18,500 people of Indian origin from across the US and Canada packed into New York's Madison Square Garden where they chanted his name and wore T-shirts bearing his picture.
Modi, who Monday will enjoy a red-carpet welcome at the White House, renewed campaign pledges to unlock India's economic potential. He hailed Indian Americans for showing an example through their professional successes and announced an easing of visa rules for people of Indian origin.
"There was a time when people thought that we were a country of snake-charmers," Modi said. "Our people used to play with snakes, but now they play with the mouse - and that mouse makes the whole world run."
Modi, who won India's widest electoral victory in three decades in April-May elections, fired back at critics who have urged him to launch quicker reforms as he recalled his humble background running a tea stall as a teenager.
"People ask for a big vision? Well, I got here by selling tea," Modi, speaking for an hour in Hindi without notes, said to thunderous applause.
"I'm a very modest man, and that's why I plan to do big things for modest people," he said, listing promises that include building more toilets and cleaning the holy Ganges river.
Pointing to US leaders' statements that Asia will dominate the 21st century, Modi said: "And some say it will be India's century. India has the capacity to achieve that potential."
"This kind of love has not been given to any Indian leader ever," he said of the huge community reception. "I will repay that loan by building the India of your dreams."
Sporting a vest in the saffron associated with Hinduism, Modi spoke from a slowly revolving stage in the storied arena that is home to the New York Knicks basketball team and a top destination for big-ticket musicians, with Billy Joel to play later this week.
In a touch inspired by US political conventions, balloons fell as Modi finished his speech while he waved to a crowd that chanted in Hindi, "Long Live Mother India."
More than 30 US members of Congress took part in the reception that warmed up with Bollywood and traditional dances. But from the start, the crowd chanted for Modi.
At one point co-emcee Hari Sreenivasan, an Indian-born news correspondent on US public television, gently tried to quiet the crowd, saying: "This is starting to sound like a campaign rally. He's already been elected."
While foreign leaders often hold community receptions when visiting the US, an event on the scale of Modi's is exceedingly rare, with only popes regularly packing stadiums.
Modi's predecessors held large receptions for Indian Americans, albeit more subtly inside hotel ballrooms.
But Indian-American activists have been eager to demonstrate support for Modi, who was refused a visa by the US in 2005 on human rights grounds over anti-Muslim riots when he was leader of the western state of Gujarat.