Congress president Rahul Gandhi to visit UAE this week

Rahul Gandhi, the president of India’s leading opposition party, is due to visit the UAE later this week.
The Indian National Congress politician’s two-day trip comes in the run-up to his country’s elections later this year.

Gandhi is expected to arrive in the UAE on Friday and one of his first engagements will be to meet with members of the Indian community living abroad. This will take place at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, where India’s prime minister Narendra Modi addressed the community during a visit in 2015.The Congress head is also scheduled to meet Indian business leaders, university students and visit labor camps during his trip.
Gandhi is also scheduled to meet UAE leaders and officials in the capital Abu Dhabi.

Speaking exclusively to Arab News, Sam Pitroda, chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress that is organizing the visit, said Gandhi’s UAE trip was part of the party’s outreach campaign to more than 20 million non-resident Indians (NRI) across the world.

“These Indians may have left Indian soil but India still lives in their hearts and minds,” Pitroda said. “Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party wants to reconnect them with their motherland so that they can contribute to the welfare of Indian society in different ways.”

Pitroda said large numbers of Indian expatriates had registered to attend the cricket stadium event through the website rginuae.com that has been specially set up for the visit.

“NRIs are an important element in our democracy. Even if they don’t vote, their opinion matters a lot as they can influence their families and communities back home. Hence it is important to interact with them,” Pitroda said.
He added that NRIs played a “crucial role” in shaping his country’s political, social and economic canvas.

A US-based NRI himself, Pitroda was a key figure in the telecoms revolution that took place in India during the 1980s.

He said Gandhi’s UAE visit will focus on spreading the party’s message of inclusiveness. “Be it equality, freedom, democracy, faith, culture, communities, Congress believes in including everyone, and that’s the beauty of India,” he said.