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

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Middle East’s first traditional stone-built Hindu temple on Wednesday, internationalising both his re-election 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 whistle-stop 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.

Modi is widely expected to win a third term as prime minister in the coming elections in India, the world’s largest democracy. But Modi’s policies and his governing Bharatiya Janata Party have raised concerns over India’s future, particularly for members of its Muslim minority as they have come under attack in recent years by Hindu nationalist groups.

That has made warming Indian relations with the Muslim-led Gulf Arab states crucial not only for India’s energy security and for millions of its expatriate workers in the region, but also its international standing.

“Every part of the time that God has given me and the body that God has given me are all for Mother India,” Modi told the crowd gathered at the temple, drawing rapturous cheers in what at times resembled a campaign stop.

Even Hindu priest Brahmaviharidas Swami, who helped build the temple, made a point to repeatedly praise Modi’s work, calling him “the most beloved prime minister perhaps that India has ever had”.

The temple in Abu Mureikha was built by the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha or BAPS, a worldwide religious and civic organisation within the Swaminarayan sect. Modi has close ties to the organisation.

Modi walked past the temple’s seven