| However, Modi appeared to have toned down his speech to a large extent, as compared to the Bharat Swabhimaan rally organised in Ahmedabad on Sunday evening, where he alleged that the US had denied a visa to him because he had passed a religious freedom bill in the state and also because Gujarat will benefit a great deal from the proposed Iran-India pipeline. |
| Appealing to the NRIs to make India a preferred investment destination, the chief minister, in his hour-long address from his residence through video-conferencing, made an attempt to promote Gujarat as a preferred investment destination. |
| "Gujarat is a state with robust and world class infrastructure, effective water management policy and a gas-based economy", he told a large gathering at New York in the United States, adding that there is a huge scope for investments in the state with several special economic zones, apparel parks, marine biotechnology parks and pharmaceuticals and agro-product industries. |
| Modi also participated in an interactive session with Indian-Americans during the session. |
| Asked what he had to say abut the denial of a US visa to him, the chief minister stated, "I have nothing to say in this regard and I believe only in action, but a handful of people ensured that false information was spread and were able in defaming India. Such false campaigns could be countered by putting forth facts along with explanations." |
| Repeating what he had mentioned at the Bharat Swabhimaan rally, Modi stated that Gujarat had received the World Bank award and the UN award for the best environment friendly reconstruction of Bhuj and several other programmes that have been undertaken by the state government. |
| On Sunday evening, Modi had charged the US with adopting double standards in ignoring all the good work done by the Gujarat government and denying him a visa on the basis of propaganda by a few organisations. |
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