New Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day tour to United Arab Emirates (UAE) on February 13-14, has dominated the ‘news space’ of Gulf nation, as many of its leading newspapers went ‘full throttle’ in covering and reporting the visit of Indian Prime Minister, his third in past eight months and seventh since 2015.
A couple of leading UAE newspapers gave ‘full and front-page’ coverage to PM Modi’s visit to the Gulf nation, reporting about strategic ties and agreements inked between the two countries while also giving ample space to his popular address to the Indian community, settled in Abu Dhabi & other cities of UAE.
‘Gulf Today’, in its coverage, made the economic and strategic pacts between India and UAE, as its top lead. Taking note of imminent UPI launch in UAE, it reported, “India and UAE launch domestic instant payment card Jaywan" and says that India is on track to be world’s third largest economy by 2030.
‘The National’, another leading daily made PM Modi’s riveting address to the Indian diaspora as its top lead while also capturing the bonhomie between heads of two nations with a picture of two leaders sharing a warm hug.
‘Khaleej Times’ writes, “Brother, it feels like home: Modi”. In its front page coverage, the UAE paper has reported in detail about what Prime Minister said in his ‘Ahlan Modi’ address and how it was enthusiastically received by the audience.
Notably, PM Modi addressed the Indian diaspora, at Ahlan Modi event, organised at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Sports City Stadium on Tuesday, amidst an electrifying atmosphere and loud cheers from the crowd. On Wednesday, PM Modi is set to inaugurate BAPS Hindu temple, the first Hindu holy shrine in a Muslim-dominant nation.
For the uninitiated, UAE is home to about 3.5 million Indian population and together they account for 35% of total demography.