How PM Modi’s Muslim world outreach blunts discordant notes at home

Even as the BJP dispensation fights allegations of polarisation politics domestically, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always gone out of his way to ensure that the Islamic world is seen by his side.

PM Modi’s keenness in projecting his proximity to the Arab world was on display recently when he hosted UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) in Gandhinagar.

The PM not only welcomed the UAE President, who was the chief guest at the VGGS, on his arrival at the airport, but also held a roadshow with him in Ahmedabad on January 9.

Now, just ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, PM Modi is embarking on a visit to the UAE for the inauguration of the BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi on February 14.

A day earlier, the PM will address the Indian diaspora at the Sheikh Zayed Sports Stadium in Abu Dhabi in which nearly 50,000 people are expected to attend. This event, called “Ahlan Modi (Hello Modi)”, has been billed as the “largest community reception to the Indian Prime Minister” overseas.

The UAE reportedly accounts for the largest Indian diaspora population at 3.5 million in the world.

In 2015, a year after he took over as the PM for his first term, Modi became the first PM of India to visit the UAE after a gap of 34 years. The upcoming visit would be his seventh one to the key Gulf country.

During his two-term as the PM so far, Modi has visited Saudi Arabia twice. He visited Bahrain in 2019, Oman, Jordan and Palestine in 2018, and Qatar in 2016. He paid a visit to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in UAE in 2015 and the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Oman in 2018. He has also received the highest civilian awards of Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain.

At the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.