BERLIN: The colours and diversity of India were on display at Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate as members of the Indian community gave a rousing welcome to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his arrival in the German capital on Monday.
Modi arrived here on the first leg of his three-nation Europe trip that will also take him to Denmark and France.
“It was early morning in Berlin yet several people from the Indian community came by. Was wonderful connecting with them. India is proud of the accomplishments of our diaspora,” Modi tweeted after his arrival here.
The diaspora organised dance and other cultural programmes to greet the Prime Minister at the Brandenburg Gate.
The colours and diversity of India are on display at Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate, the Prime Minister’s Office tweeted along with some pictures of the colourful cultural event.
A flavour of India at the Brandenburg Gate! Have a look , it said in another tweet.
The community members, including children who were waiting for the prime minister since 4 am at Hotel Adlon Kempinski, chanted Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata ki Jai on seeing him.
Modi praised an Indian-origin boy, Ashutosh, who sang a patriotic song for him.
“Shaabash (well done),” he told the boy.
A little girl, Manya Mishra, presented the Prime Minister his portrait. He took a picture with Manya and also signed the portrait for her.
She said it was a wonderful experience for her to meet Prime Minister Modi. He signed the painting I made of him, she added.
The community members were excited to have such a close encounter with him.
“We reached here at 4 o’clock in the morning,” one person said.
“He has done so much for the country in the last eight years. Very excited to meet him in person here,” another person said.
There are around 2.03 lakh Indian passport holders and Indian-origin people (about 1.60 lakh NRIs/Indian Passport holders and around 43,000 PIOs) in Germany, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.
The Indian diaspora mainly consists of professionals, researchers and scientists, businessmen, nurses and students. There has been a significant increase in the last few years in the number of qualified Indian professionals in the fields of IT, banking, finance, etc, it said. (PTI)