A group of people cheer as Prime Minister Narendra Modi with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, unseen, passes by during a roadshow, in Ahmedabad, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024.
Credit: X/@BJP4Gujarat
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Tuesday evening led a mega roadshow from the Ahmedabad airport to Indira Bridge. While the PM termed the visit an "honour", the UAE president reciprocated on X, stating that he met the PM in Ahmedabad "to further cement the strong ties that unite our two nations."
The 3-km-long roadshow commenced after PM Modi welcomed the UAE president, also known as MBZ, at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The two leaders, seated together in one car, waved to the thousands of people lining both sides of the road. The cavalcade received a warm welcome and cheers as it moved through the stretch, accompanied by live cultural dances performed by artists from at least 15 different states.
After the end of the roadshow, Prime Minister Modi tagging MBZ, posted on X, "Welcome to India my brother, HH @MohamedBinZayed. It's an honour to have you visit us." The post has pictures of the two leaders hugging and greeting each other while walking on the red carpet at the airport. Modi's posts were both in English and Arabic.
The UAE president reciprocated by tagging Modi, "Today I met with Indian Prime Minister @narendramodi in Ahmedabad to further cement the strong ties that unite our two nations. The partnership between India and the UAE continues to flourish and our talks today explored ways to boost collaboration that will support economic growth and sustainable development for the benefit of our people." He posted the same in Hindi and Arabic as well.
After the roadshow, the UAE president arrived at Leela Hotel in Gandhinagar, where a closed-door bilateral meeting took place between the two leaders. Later in the evening, the PM hosted a dinner.
Foreign state heads, including Mozambique President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi and Timor-Leste's Dr Jose Ramos Horta, conducted bilateral meetings with the prime minister on the sidelines of the 10th edition of the "Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024." Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala is also anticipated to participate in the summit, set to be inaugurated on Wednesday morning. According to the schedule, Fiala will arrive at the airport late on Tuesday night.
Earlier in the day, the PM inaugurated the "Vibrant Gujarat Global Trade Show 2024" with Timor-Leste president Ramos-Horta and Mozambique president Nyusi in Gandhinagar on the eve of the main summit.
The Trade Show spans across 2 lakh sq km and is housed in various halls at the Helipad Ground Exhibition Centre.
During the first half of the day, Modi engaged with numerous global CEOs, including Sanjay Mehtrotra of Micron, DP World's Chairman Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Toshihiro Suzuki, and others.