text: Look at the screenshot above. Can you imagine if, instead of Hindi's Devanagari script, it were written in Chinese? Or in Arabic? Or even in Spanish, a language that tens of millions of Americans speak? 
   
   The United States' political slugfest is now crossing new frontiers. Less than two weeks before the presidential election, Donald Trump's campaign has released an ad airing on TV channels aimed at Indian Americans in which he not only speaks Hindi (albeit roughly), but adopts the main campaign slogan of India's prime minister, Narendra Modi. 
   
   “Ab ki baar Modi sarkaar.” Those were the words Modi used to fuel his landslide victory in May 2014. They mean: “This time, a Modi government.” In the ad, which you can watch below, Trump switches Modi's name out for his own. 
   
   Republican Donald Trump's presidential campaign has released an ad aimed at Indian Americans in which he speaks Hindi and adopts the main campaign slogan of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Shalabh Kumar) 
   
   The ad comes on the heels of Trump's address to the Indian American community at a convention center in Edison, N.J., on Oct. 15. Featured in the ad are clips from his speech, which he used to assure Indian Americans that the United States and India would be “best friends.” 
   
   [At Hindu-American rally, Trump pitches India and U.S. as ‘best friends’] 
   
   In the speech, as in the ad, he expressed a deep admiration for Modi, who was denied a U.S. visa in 2005 over his alleged support for Hindu extremists during Hindu-Muslim riots in 2002. Modi has since rebuilt his reputation among U.S. officials and hosted President Obama in New Delhi in 2015 and visited the Oval Office in June for talks. 
   
   “I will look forward to working with Prime Minister Modi, who has been very energetic in reforming India's bureaucracy,” said Trump at the rally in Edison. “Great man! I applaud him for doing so. And I look forward to doing some serious bureaucratic trimming right here in the United States. Believe me, we need it also.” 
   
   Campaign outreach in various languages is not groundbreaking. Trump's Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, began running a Spanish-language TV ad last week, and has run radio ads in Florida in Creole for Haitian American voters. In 1988, Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis often sprinkled his speeches with Greek. 
   
   This may be the first time Hindi has made the list for a targeted ad. It also seems like a long shot. 
   
   Trump severely lags behind his Clinton in support from Indian Americans. Only 7 percent of likely Indian American voters indicated in a recent survey that they intended to vote for him, as opposed to 70 percent who said they would vote for Clinton. 
   
   Nevertheless, a group called the Republican Hindu Coalition, led by Indian American electronics magnate Shalli Kumar, is hoping to persuade some in the community to vote Trump. Kumar and his immediate family have donated about $2 million to the Trump campaign, and he spent upward of $3 million of his own money on organizing the event in Edison, a city with a large Indian American population. 
   
   [Indian Americans vote solidly Democratic, but some hope Trump can change that] 
   
   Trump's perceived tough stance on “radical Islamic terrorism” is one issue Kumar thinks can swing the traditionally Democratic voting bloc Republican. In the new ad, Trump uses those three words while a picture of Mumbai's iconic Taj Mahal hotel burns in the background. The hotel was attacked in 2008 by terrorists operating out of Pakistan who arrived in the port city by boat. 
   
   Yet, with polls shaping up decidedly in Clinton's favor in the lead-up to November's election, a Modi-esque landslide for Trump is unlikely. And given that Indian American voters make up a minuscule percentage of the American voting public, the community was never going to tip that balance anyhow. 
   
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   India expels Pakistan’s embassy employee on espionage charges ||||| Image copyright Shalabh Kumar 
   
   US presidential candidate Donald Trump has spoken a few words of Hindi in a video aimed at wooing Indian-American voters. 
   
   He is appropriating Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popular campaign slogan "Abki bar Modi sarkar" ("This time Modi government"). 
   
   The video was made to air on Indian TV channels in the US, Buzzfeed quoted Shalabh Kumar, a member of Trump's Indian-American Advisory Committee, as saying. Mr Kumar supports Mr Trump and says he made the video with him to appeal to Hindi speakers. 
   
   However, if the reaction of Indians in Delhi is anything to go by, Mr Trump still has some work to do. 
   
   As the BBC's Vikas Pandey found out in a quick survey on the streets of the Indian capital, no one was very impressed by the video. 
   
   'India is not just Hindus, Mr Trump' 
   
   Image caption Shailesh Yadav believes that Mr Trump will not be a friend of India 
   
   Shailesh Yadav said he felt disgusted after watching the video because "Mr Trump seemed to be addressing only Hindus through the video". 
   
   "How could he just assume that Hindus means India? We are a plural country, Mr Trump. Muslims, Sikhs and Christians also live in this country." he said. 
   
   Mr Yadav added that he was hoping that "Americans will be smart enough to not vote this guy into power". 
   
   'Not a friend of India' 
   
   Law student Aparimita Pratap's reaction after watching the video was that Mr Trump "has already lost the election and no video is going to save him". 
   
   "He can't win in a million years. If he thinks that just speaking a few words in Hindi will get him the votes of Indian-Americans or win him fans here [in India], he is so horribly wrong," she said. 
   
   "He just has the support of some Indian-American business families and he thinks whole of India loves him. But then I can't blame him: he is the living embodiment of ignorance." 
   
   Image caption Raymon Singh, left, and Aparimita Pratap, right, are law students 
   
   Her friend Raymon Singh agrees and just laughs after I show her the video. 
   
   "This is so funny. He seems to have rehearsed the slogan many times, but he still didn't sound convincing," she said. 
   
   "Are you sure this is not some spoof video?" she asked. 
   
   "If this is a real video, then it just proves that he is a man of contradictions. He first berates immigrants and then tries to woo Indian-Americans," she said. 
   
   "He is not a friend of India - he is nobody's friend. Just look at his regressive views about women. I feel disgusted as a woman listening to his comments." 
   
   'He can't be trusted' 
   
   Image caption Kriti Kakkar believes Mr Trump will not win 
   
   Student Kriti Kakkar was so amused she watched the video a few times over. 
   
   "I thought the US was a developed country, but after seeing this man come this far, I am having serious doubts," she said. 
   
   "How could they not know him? I have followed him since he used to host The Apprentice on television. He was so rude even then." 
   
   She added that India "cannot trust him". 
   
   "He is saying nice things about India because he wants votes. But he can't be trusted to honour his promises," she said. 
   
   'Not the right person' 
   
   Image caption Hitesh Yadav earlier thought that Mr Trump was going to win 
   
   Hitesh Yadav, a management professional, said he wasn't surprised by the video. 
   
   "He will say and do anything to win votes at the moment. I honestly thought he was going to win two months ago, but now his comments about women and minorities have shown his true face to the world," he said. 
   
   "If he wins, the world will become more unsafe, including India. He will try to shut down call centres in India," he said. 
   
   "He is not the right person for the job." 
   
   'Not a good sign for the US' 
   
   Image caption Designer Anand Bhushan believes that Mr Trump won't protect the minorities if he wins 
   
   Designer Anand Bhushan said Mr Trump "appears to be trying to cash in on the victory of the Hindu nationalist BJP party in 2014 in India". 
   
   "And he may end up getting some votes of the Hindu Indian-American community. But that's not a good sign for the US," he said. 
   
   "Just look what's happening in India. We have seen so many cases of intolerance against minorities in India since 2014. Mr Trump is heading in the same direction," he said.
target: – Less than a fortnight remains before Election Day, and Donald Trump is attempting an 11th-hour outreach to an entirely new demographic: Indian-Americans, reports the Washington Post. And so he's released a TV ad in which he attempts to speak Hindi (with a New York accent, the Post notes), swapping his name into a slogan used by Indian PM Narendra Modi during his own 2014 campaign. The 30-second ad kicks off with a Diwali greeting, followed by an abruptly edited score and clips from a Trump speech he gave to Indian-Americans in New Jersey on Oct. 15. In that speech, he promises the US will be a "true friend" to the "Indian and Hindu community" and help it defeat "radical Islamic terrorism." "We love the Hindus! We love India!" he proclaims. Then, his new catchphrase as he speaks directly to viewers: "Ab ki baar, Trump sarkaar" ("this time, a Trump government"). As for reaction from Delhi residents, the BBC found that Trump "still has some work to do" in wooing Indians. One commenter on the street said he was "disgusted" by Trump's appeal to only the Hindu community when "Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians also live in this country" and noted he hoped "Americans will be smart enough to not vote this guy into power." A female respondent said, "He is not a friend of India," adding his speech seems "rehearsed" and that he appears to be a "man of contradictions." "He first berates immigrants and then tries to woo Indian-Americans," she said. (A Hindu nationalist party had a special surprise for Donald on his 70th birthday.)