US President quotes Swami Vivekananda at 'Namaste Trump' event
US President Donald Trump on Monday invoked Swami Vivekananda during his speech at the 'Namaste Trump' event held at Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad. "As the great religious teacher Swami Vivekananda once said, 'the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him, that moment I am free'," he said while addressing a mammoth crowd at the world's largest cricket stadium.
"In America and in India, we all know that we are born for a higher purpose to reach towards our fuller potential to work toward excellence and perfection and to give all glory to God," Trump added.
Around one lakh people gathered for the 'Namaste Trump' event. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Governor Acharya Devvrat and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly were also present at the stadium.
The 'Namaste Trump' event is based on the lines of the 'Howdy Modi' programme that was addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump during the former's trip to Houston last September.
The US President arrived shortly before noon at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport with his wife Melania and a ministerial delegation that also includes his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner who serve as senior advisors to Trump.
America's first couple also paid a short stopover at Sabarmati Ashram and spun a Charkha, which is closely associated with India's freedom struggle and Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.
The dignitaries also had a look at the three monkeys of Mahatma Gandhi depicting moral gestures -- see no evil, speak no evil, and hear no evil -- at the ashram.
Trump has now departed for Agra to catch a glimpse of the Taj Mahal with his family.
(With agency inputs)
