Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opens stone-built Hindu temple in UAE ahead of India’s elections

By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press

ABU MUREIKHA, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited the Middle East’s first traditional stone-built Hindu temple, internationalizing both his reelection campaign and his effort to push secular and multicultural India into a Hindu state. Wednesday’s visit to the BAPS Hindu Mandir just north of the city of Abu Dhabi capped Modi’s whistlestop tour of the United Arab Emirates. He embraced the UAE’s president whom he describes as his brother and also spoke before a global leaders at a Dubai summit. Modi is widely expected to win a third term as prime minister in the upcoming elections in India. But his policies and his governing Bharatiya Janata Party have raised concerns over India’s future, particularly for its Muslim minority.