Modi sake hand with Indians abroad

Modi meets Indians abroad:

·         New York, September 2014: 30 members of the US Congress are part of an 18,000 crowd at Madison Square Garden, a venue more associated with rock stars

·         Sydney, November 2014: 16,000 gather to hear Narendra Modi speak in Hindi at an arena in the city's Olympic Park

·         Toronto, April 2015: Canada's prime minister introduces Narendra Modi at an indoor arena with 10,000 present

·         Dubai, August 2015: 50,000 Indians living in the Gulf pack Dubai's cricket stadium for the biggest Modi rally abroad to date

·         San Jose, September 2015: after a visit to California's Silicon Valley, Modi addresses 18,500 at an arena known as the Shark Tank after the local ice hockey team

A Modi Not Welcome Campaign is organising protests during his visit, complaining of religious intolerance and an autocratic style of government.

Part of his purpose, say these campaigners, is to create a worldwide network of Hindu right-wingers - something they regard as worrying.

But there is broad enthusiasm among the Indian diaspora for Narendra Modi. Here's why:

1.      Modi has actively sought support from Indian communities abroad, and that's something new; the Indian diaspora are more often made to feel guilty for turning their backs on the home country than embraced for their global influence and success. Even now, any Indian seeking to become a national of another country has to hand back their Indian passport.

2.      India's prime minister has praised the diaspora as part of India's "soft power" - standing alongside yoga and the Bollywood movie industry in giving the country global prestige and influence. No other Indian leader has spoken so warmly of the achievements of Indians abroad.

3.      Indian communities in Western countries are often high-achieving and prominent in business, technology and the professions; they tend to be sympathetic to Modi's business-friendly policies. "Indians worship money and want to become rich," says CB Patel, "and Modi's economic priorities are much admired by Indians abroad."

4.      Gujarati pride is also at play. Modi is from this western state, which makes up just 5% of India's population but is much more prominent in the diaspora. More than 600,000 people of Gujarati origin live in Britain; along with Punjabis, they constitute the greater part of the Indian-origin population.

5.      The BJP's landslide election victory last year was in part because Modi was seen as representing hope for a revitalised India; the welcome he has received in Western capitals, with Barack Obama personally nominating Modi as one of Time magazine's '100 Leaders', is relished by Indians abroad as a sign of India gaining global influence and authority.

6.      While the organisers insist that Indians of all religions, regions and backgrounds will be present at Wembley, Modi's success reflects a Hindu cultural revivalism which is at least as evident, some would say more so, among the diaspora as in India.

The courting of Indians abroad is in part about money. The 30 million Indians living outside the country contribute an estimated $70bn (£45bn) to the economy each year in remittances.