The warm greeting with which the Prime Minister was met outside his New York hotel is a signifier of his high popularity among the Indian diaspora abroad. Modi was welcomed with similar gusto by the members of the Indian community at the Joint Andrews Base in Washington, DC when he arrived at the US capital two days ago. More than a hundred people from the community abroad gathered at the airport to welcome the Indian leader, who is on his first foreign visit since the Covid-19 outbreak.People chanted the Prime Minister's name and waved the Indian national flag amid light showers; while Modi, in turn, was seen smiling and shaking hands with members of the community.In a recent survey assessing the popularity index of 13 world leaders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ranked the highest, outracing US president Joe Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, among others. According to the survey conducted by The Morning Consult, PM Modi is the “most popular and accepted global leader” in the entire world. He received a stellar approval rating of 70 per cent, while Biden was fifth in the list with an approval rating of 48 per cent.Prime Minister Modi's visit to New York assumes a special significance now in light of the recent developments in Afghanistan, where the rapid offensive of the Taliban insurgents surprised the world and forced the global community to come together to find an ideal diplomatic solution to the situation. According to top diplomats in New York and Washington, the western embarrassment over Afghanistan with the Taliban throwing the entire Doha political commitments out of the window will be the main theme of speakers in the UNGA.#WATCH | PM Narendra Modi meets people as they cheer for him & chant 'Vande Mataram' & 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' outside the hotel in New York.
— ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2021
He is scheduled to address at the 76th session of UNGA pic.twitter.com/hafLDBSimC