Hindu temple will be a beacon of UAE tolerance: Suri

Come Saturday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in the UAE on a short two-day visit. He will meet the rulers, community members, businessmen and will be guest of honour at the World Government Summit. Modi will also be laying the foundation stone for Abu Dhabi's first Hindu temple through a video link from Dubai on Sunday.

Indian Ambassador to the UAE Navdeep Singh Suri said the temple will be a beacon of Indian culture and also the UAE's own spirit of tolerance. Modi will also pay tribute at the UAE's war memorial Wahat Al Karama.

"The prime minister will be in Abu Dhabi on Saturday evening. As part of the state visit component, he will hold discussions with His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. There will be a banquet. Also, there will be agreements that will be signed. On the second day after a stopover at Wahat Al Karama he will leave for Dubai. There he will engage in the second component of the visit, which is engage with a small representation of the Indian community."

Modi will then lay the foundation stone of the temple at the Dubai Opera House.

"I want to give special gratitude to Sheikh Mohamed for his generosity and graciousness in providing a very large tract of land for this temple. I am pretty confident that once this temple comes up, it will be a beacon not only of Indian culture here but also the UAE's own spirit of tolerance that celebrates diversity and enables all community the space to practice their religion, culture, identity and language," he added.

ashwani@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi

Ashwani Kumar

Ashwani Kumar is a versatile journalist who explores every beat in Abu Dhabi with an insatiable curiosity. He loves uncovering stories that are informative and help readers form their own opinions.

ashwani@khaleejtimes.com