When the NRG stadium in Houston opens its doors Sunday morning to welcome Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and his estimated 50,000 supporters, about 8 million Kashmiris will have spent 48 days in captivity, nearly 2 million people in India’s north-eastern state of Assam will have spent 22 days scrambling for papers to prove their citizenship, unemployment in India will have been at a 45-year high, and minorities in India will have faced years feeling stripped of their existence in a place they call home.
As the morning wears on, the world will witness, on television and computer screens, one of the largest events ever held in the U.S. for a foreign leader. The moment will be a proud one for the Indian-American community that has been waiting for its long-due recognition on the American stage. When President Donald Trump, who will be in attendance, gets engulfed in the famous Modi embrace, the exercise will be complete: India will have arrived as an important player in global geopolitics.
