PM Narendra Modi Honored with Standing Ovation After Speech in British Parliament

The visit has been met with protests over India’s human rights record and Modi’s stance.

On Friday, he received a rock star-style standing ovation as he was introduced and declared: “Good evening Wembley!” “We are honoured to assume the Chairmanship of BRICS from February 1, 2016 and build on the great work done by other Members”, he said.

We r celebrating this very special relationship in this very special venue with friends of India especially PM David Cameron.

“It’s been 12 years since I had been here”.

“In that time a lot of water has gone down the Thames”. I understand their pain on a few issues as well. In order to fulfil this new responsibility I’m investing all my efforts. “The pace and direction of progress in India is such that the fruits of development will be seen very soon”, Modi said. However, the Indian PM was closely followed by Pakistani, Kashmiri, Sikh and Nepalese protestors as they demonstrated and chanted slogans against Modi outside the stadium shouting “Modi go back” and “shame on you Modi”.

Mr Modi addressed 60,000 fans who travelled from across the country to see him on Friday evening, during the first visit to the United Kingdom by an Indian prime minister for a decade. Despite friction with Modi in the past, the British government has made strides in improving relations with the Hindu nationalist leader since he became prime minister in 2014.

Modi told the gathering that India has no reason to be poor and he took digs at the previous governments over corruption and their inability to remove poverty and said 18,000 villages in India were still without electricity.

While Bollywood singer Alisha Chinai commemorated Modi’s Make In India campaign, actor Kanika Kapoor sang a number on the event’s theme, “Two glorious nations, one glorious future”. “This relationship has to be driven by private sector CEOs now”, Modi said on the second-day of his engagements here during his address to the UK-India CEO Forum.

Britain and India have announced major business deals and cultural exchanges during Modi’s trip, including an Indian tour for historic British texts such as the Magna Carta and the opening of a Madame Tussauds wax museum in New Delhi. Only a few years earlier, Britain and several other countries had shunned Modi due to accusations he turned a blind eye while he was chief minister of Gujarat to 2002 communal violence in which hundreds were killed.