Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the Gujarati Patel community in the US popular as "hotel motel Patel wallas" can help promote India as a tourist destination among their guests by putting slides about the country on their hotel TVs.
Addressing Saurashtra Patel Cultural Samaj of the US via video-conference, Modi urged each NRI to inspire five foreign families to visit India to give a boost to tourism.
"You are known as the people of 'hotel motel Patel wallas'. Whenever you get a guest in your hotel or motel, why don't you put a few slides of India on TV. When the guests turns on the TV they will be able to see what India is," Modi said.
Patel community, which originally hails from Gujarat, are mostly into the motel business in the US. A 2014 article in the reputed Smithsonian magazine had said that at least half of America's motels are owned by Indian Americans, and of that 70 per cent are owned by Patels.
Modi urged the NRIs to contribute for the growth of the country when it is on the "rapid path of progress."
"Inspire at least five non-Indian families to visit India. If you do not invest a rupee in India but just do this it will be a great service to the nation," he said.
Modi further said that this is the year of Kumbh Mela and NRIs can inspire people to visit this unique gathering. He said that India has many things to offer on the tourism front.
Modi said NRIs contributed immensely to ward off forces in the "neighbourhood" who were hell bent to defame India and make the world accept its view on terrorism.
"There are elements in our neighbourhood who tried to defame us all over the world. For the last five to seven decades they adopted various means, they used money. They have only one job and that is to defame Hindustan," Modi said without taking the name of Pakistan.
"We had seen that many people from many parts of the world were standing with them. But the situation has changed now as the world is standing with us and only few people are with them. Entire world has now accepted our point of view on terrorism," Modi said.
"Your (NRIs) contribution is immense in convincing the world about India's point of view. Due to your behaviour, thinking and and capacity to mix with and take all the people together you have created an image for yourselves in the entire world.
"The people of world who come in contact with person of Indian origin have seen that you contribute to the growth of their country, you do not create problems, wherever our children are, in school or colleges, the authorities there are sure that they will be toppers and our doctors have created image of being sincere and hard working people," Modi said.
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