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Supporters line up outside the arena to see Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister attend an event in Toronto on Wednesday, April 15 2015.Chris Young/The Canadian Press

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a message of hope Wednesday to about 10,000 Indo-Canadians, who packed a Toronto hockey arena, boasting about the achievements he has already made - and what is to come as he promised to rid India of corruption and put it on a more prosperous course.

"India," he said, "was known as 'scam India.' Now it will be known as 'skilled India'."

The crowd at Ricoh Coliseum roared, clapped, jumped to their feet and chanted his name throughout his nearly hour-long speech. Unscripted and on the stage all alone, Prime Minister Modi was totally at ease, speaking the whole time in Hindi.

There was no translation in the arena.

He touched on everything from how quickly his government is constructing new roads, his hopes for the youth of India, how he is leading a clean revolution to rid his country of garbage and litter to giving thanks to Canada for selling uranium to India.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is addressing members of Toronto's Indian diaspora on Wednesday night, the second day of his official visit to Canada. It is the first bilateral visit by a sitting Indian prime minister since Indira Gandhi's visit in 1973.

The crowd loved him - "It was absolutely fantastic," said Vinod Varapravan, wh‎o traveled with six other family members from London, Ont., for the event.

"It was Narendra Modi in full flow. It was vintage Narendra Modi."

He said the Prime Minister outlined a clear vision for India's future that included a clean environment, energy and youth engagement. He says he hasn't heard that for a long time.

‎But it was a night not only of politics - but of culture, and a little bit of Bollywood, too, with high energy dancers and singers entertaining the crowd.

‎There was even a yoga demonstration - as one of the hosts of the evening noted that Prime Minister Modi was a yoga fan.

And then the Indian leader took the stage accompanied by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his wife, Laureen, who was dressed in a navy blue sari.

‎Prime Minister Modi had arrived in Toronto Wednesday afternoon after attending several events in Ottawa, including a meeting with Governor General David Johnston, a working lunch with Prime Minister Harper and signing a major uranium supply deal.

This is the first visit by a sitting Indian Prime Minister in more than 40 years - he arrived Tuesday night and will finish his three-day Canadian trip in Vancouver Thursday with an official banquet with Prime Minister Harper.

But it was his speech at the Ricoh Coliseum - the home arena of the Toronto Marlies hockey team - that was the main event for Indo-Canadians, giving them a chance to actually see him. His speech was also being broadcast live in India.

The thousands of people who had tickets to the event were told to come nearly two hours before it started.

And as drums beat and Canadian and Indian flags waved, they stood in line patiently waiting to get through security.

There were about 150 protesters outside the arena.

But mostly the mood was festive and there was an anticipatory buzz among those with tickets to the event.

For 13-year-old twins from Ajax, Ont., ‎Ishal and Ashal Dave the Indian Prime Minister is a "stylish" leader who they follow on social media.

The teenagers also wanted to find out what Prime Minister Modi will do about Canada India relations.

The Grade 7 students, who were dressed in identical green outfits, have relatives from Gujarati, the western Indian state Mr. Modi headed before becoming Prime Minister last year.

For the Harper Conservatives this is a well-timed trip - just months before the expected fall general election. The federal Tories have been successful in their outreach to cultural communities, winning the majority of ridings in the GTA in the 2011 election, including ones in Brampton that have large Indo-Canadian populations.

Madhu Bhata Jha is a reporter with ABP News, a 24-hour Indian TV news network, broadcast in India and North America. Based in Chicago, she is reporting on the Prime Minister's Toronto speech and his events in Vancouver.

She described his visit to Canada as a "big deal". With his visit, she said that there is a lot of hope that Canada will become more engaged with India and the partnership will grow.

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