A leading Indian non-governmental organization (NGO) on Tuesday announced plans to name a village in the country after President Donald Trump in an effort to boost US-India relations.
The development comes ahead of Trump’s 71st birthday on Wednesday, which Hindu right-wing activists plan to celebrate in the Indian capital.
Bindeshwar Pathak, founder and chief of NGO Sulabh International, is “to name one Indian village after President Trump, as part of efforts to further the India-US relationship” at a community event in Washington, a statement on the organization’s Facebook page said.
“We are developing this village in the northern state of Haryana, where toilets for all homes have been built by Sulabh.
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“We will name the village after President Trump after discussing it with the villagers,” Pathak told dpa by phone from Washington.
Sulabh, credited with improving sanitation across India and converting waste into energy, has built 1.5 million household toilets in the South Asian country.
It has also launched operations in neighbouring countries.
This would not be the first village in India to be named after a U.S. president.
A village near New Delhi was renamed Carterpuri to commemorate U.S. president Jimmy Carter’s visit to the village in 1978.
Meanwhile, members of right-wing group Hindu Sena, who backed Trump’s anti-Islamist comments during his presidential campaign, said they will celebrate his birthday in Delhi with the cutting of a cake and a photo exhibition.
The developments come ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first meeting with the US leader in Washington later this month.
