PM Modi catching up with news while travelling to Berlin
After making a strong pitch for his Make in India agenda to German investors in Hannover, Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Berlin on Monday afternoon to a massive welcome from the Indian community.
"I am here to assure German companies that India is now a changed country," he had said hours earlier at an Indo-German Business Summit, his last engagement in Hannover where he inaugurated the world's largest trade fair along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
PM Modi assured investors that "our regulatory regime is much more transparent, responsive and stable" and that "India has fast-tracked approvals in industry and infrastructure."
At the Hannover fair, the lion logo of PM Modi's Make in India campaign was a leitmotif - on a giant backdrop to the stage, mementos that the PM gave out, and the centrepiece of every speech he made, pitching India's potential as a manufacturing hub.
In Berlin, hundreds of people gathered outside the Adlon Kempinski where he is staying, to get a glimpse of PM Modi. "Very high enthusiasm in Berlin as the Indian community welcomes PM @narendramodi," the PM's office tweeted.
People waved the Indian flag and reached out to shake hands with him, with chants of "Modi, Modi." The PM responded, holding the hands of some people and interacting with the crowds.
On a two-day visit to Germany, PM Modi flew out to Berlin in the afternoon from Hannover and tweeted on the one-hour flight, "Catching up on the news while travelling to Berlin," with a picture of him reading a newspaper.
This evening the PM will attend a community reception hosted by the Indian Ambassador to Germany, Vijay Gokhale, at his hotel.
Surya Bose, the grandnephew of freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose has said he will attempt to meet the PM at the reception, amid a row in India over revelations that close relatives of Netaji Bose were spied upon.
Germany is the PM's second stop on a three-nation tour. He arrived from France on Sunday and leaves tomorrow for Canada.