Nearly 48,000 Indians register for UAE Modi reception

Abu Dhabi, Aug 13: Nearly 48,000 Indians in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have so far registered for the public reception of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is scheduled to visit the country on August 16-17, a media report here said. The reception will be held at the Dubai International Stadium on August 17, Gulf News reported. Nearly 48,000 Indian expatriates registered for the event on the official website of the event, www.namoindubai.ae, by Wednesday evening. "As soon as we opened the registration, we received over 15,000 requests. The numbers swelled quickly and this (Wednesday) afternoon we had over 42,000 registrations completed successfully," B.R. Shetty, member of the organising committee, said. "We expect over 50,000 to register and our estimate on that day is an audience of 40,000 people, considering some of the registered people may not turn up," he added. Although the stadium has an expanded capacity of 30,000, we will make sure to accommodate more by covering the ground," Shetty noted. Meanwhile, the arrangements have been made to keep the the open-air stadium cool for the visitors.