Indian PM Modi opens Hindu temple in Muslim UAE as election nears

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi performing a Hindu water ritual at the inauguration of the BAPS Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi on Feb 14, 2024. - Reuters

ABU MUREIKHA, United Arab Emirates: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Middle East's first traditional stone-built Hindu temple on Wednesday (Feb 14), internationalising both his reelection campaign and his effort to push secular India into a Hindu state.

The trip to the BAPS Hindu Mandir just north of the city of Abu Dhabi capped Modi's whistlestop tour of the United Arab Emirates during which the Indian leader embraced the UAE's president, describing him as a brother and also spoke before a global leaders at a Dubai summit.