Abu Dhabi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently touring West Asia, will on Sunday lay the foundation stone for the first Hindu temple in the capital of the UAE, home to over three million people of Indian origin.


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PM Modi arrived here in the evening after which he was given a ceremonial reception.


This is PM Modi's second visit to UAE after his first trip to the country in 2015.


"The first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi will come up on 55,000 square metres of land and the ground-breaking ceremony on Sunday will be a historic event," Indian Ambassador to the UAE Navdeep Singh Suri said.


According to reports, Prime Minister Modi will flag off laying of the temple's foundation stone during the community event.


"On Sunday, you will see a ground-breaking ceremony, which is going to be live-streamed into Dubai Opera House. It's going to be tradition meeting technology," Suri said.


In UAE, PM Modi will hold a meeting with the Indian community at Dubai Opera House.


Representatives of all major organisations and a number of Indian professionals have been invited for the event.


"The occasion is going to be historic for a different reason because it will also see the commencement of the first Hindu Temple in Abu Dhabi. We are very pleased that we have received 55,000 square metres of land near Al Rahba off the Dubai-Abu Dhabi Sheikh Zayed Highway," Suri said.


The temple, which will be hand-carved by Indian temple artisans and assembled in the UAE, is likely to be completed by 2020, and open to people of all religious backgrounds.
It will be the first traditional Hindu stone temple in the Middle East, said a spokesperson from the BAPS.


Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), is a socio-spiritual Hindu organisation set up in 1907 that runs more than 1,100 temples and cultural compounds around the world.


The temple will incorporate all aspects and features of a traditional Hindu temple as part of a fully functional, social, cultural and spiritual complex.


It will replicate the BAPS temple in New Delhi and the one under construction in New Jersey, a trust member told Khaleej Times.


The investment from the UAE to India exceeds USD 11 billion. 


(With Agency inputs)