While Prime Minister Narendra Modi is still on his Europe visit, with the first leg in Germany, a photograph of his in the European country, snapped about 30 years ago when he did not hold any public office, has surfaced and gone viral. The image shows a much younger Modi and a colleague standing before the statue of Charlemagne, the medieval emperor in western Europe who founded the Holy Roman Empire.
This photo was shot in 1993 in Frankfurt where Modi had had a brief halt while returning to India from the US. He was an ordinary BJP worker back then.
The image sparked a “then and now” comparison on social media platforms. Many users compared the image with another one taken during the current Germany visit that showed Prime Minister Modi receiving the ceremonial guard of honour.
Prime Minister Modi is on a three-nation Europe tour. In Germany, he held several important meetings with the country’s leadership, including with Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin. Talking to reporters later, Chancellor Scholz said that he had invited Prime Minister Modi as a special guest to the Group of Seven (G7) leaders’ summit next month.
As he arrived in Germany, Prime Minister Modi was given a warm welcome by the Indian diaspora. He addressed them late last evening at an event.
The prime minister then visited Denmark. He has had a packed schedule in Copenhagen. Besides the second edition of the India-Nordic Summit, he attended the India-Denmark Business Forum.
Tomorrow, the prime minister will be in France to meet French President Emmanuel Macron, who has just been re-elected.
Slogan for Modi in 2024?
‘Twenty Twenty-Four; Modi Once More!’ The BJP might have found its next election slogan in Germany yesterday. A theatre at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin resonated with this slogan as Prime Minister Modi addressed the Indian diaspora.
The prime minister’s hour-long address to the Indian community was peppered with slogans of ‘Modi, Modi’, ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, ‘Modi hai toh mumkin hai’, and ‘2024, Modi Once More’ by an ecstatic crowd gathered at the Theatre Am Postdamer Platz.
Although the prime minister started his address, saying: “I have not come here to talk about me or the Modi sarkaar,” the people seemed to want more of him even as he heaped praises on a ‘New India’. “I am fortunate that I got the opportunity to meet the children of India in Germany today,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi continued: “A new, resurgent India has made up its mind to move ahead with determination. This India ended the three-decade-long political instability with the push of a button. India has realised the value of each and every vote.”
“The new India is ready to take risks, innovate, and incubate. India, which had 200-400 startups around 2014, is home to 68,000 startups and dozens of unicorns today some of whom have already become deca-corns with USD 10 billion valuations,” Modi said.
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