Dubai

About 50,000 Indians have registered for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public reception here during his maiden UAE visit next week, according to the organisers of the event.

Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to visit the UAE from August 16-17 and the reception will be held at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai Sports City on the second day of his visit.

The website, www.namoindubai.ae, registered 48,000 people by last evening and organisers have made grand arrangements for the event, including an ambitious plan to air-condition the open air stadium as well as distribute free food and water to the audience, the Gulf News reported.

“The very first day as soon as we opened the registration we received over 15,000 requests. The numbers swelled quickly and this afternoon we had 42,000 registrations completed successfully. We expect over 50,000 to register and our estimate on that day is an audience of 40,000 people, considering some of the registered people may not turn up,” B R Shetty, member of the organising committee was quoted as saying by the daily.

“Although the stadium has an expanded capacity of 30,000 we will make sure to accommodate more by covering the ground,” he said.

The organisers have made elaborate arrangements to cool the stadium and the air-conditioning system will be switched on a day before to ensure the place is sufficiently cool on the day of the event, the report said.

Dubai temperatures are as high as 42 degrees Celsius and the humidity is almost 60 per cent in the evening.

“We do not want our people to sweat and face inconvenience in the heat and that is why we are making this elaborate arrangement with new technology to cool the stadium so that people can listen to their leader in peace,” Shetty said.

The Indian Consulate has planned a cultural show to welcome Modi during the reception.

During the visit, Modi will seek enhanced bilateral cooperation in energy and trade and reach out to investors in the Gulf country to promote India as an attractive business destination.

PTI