Ahmedabad gears up to receive Donald Trump, elaborate celebrations planned

ANI Photo

Ahmedabad: Ahead of US President Donald Trump's scheduled visit to India on February 24 and 25, security and other details are being prepped at Ahmedabad. After landing at Ahmedabad airport, Donald and first lady Melania Trump will be received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi where the visiting US president will be accorded the Guard of Honour.

The dignitaries will then head towards Gandhi Ashram and then make their way towards Motera Stadium to inaugurate what is being called one of the biggest stadiums in the world. 
Several different cultural programs will be performed and tableaus will be paraded for the visitors while they are on the way towards Gandhi Ashram. 

Along the way from the airport to Gandhi Ashram, which is as long as 22 kilometres, as many as 1.50 lakh flower pots will be planted on the route. A mix of both native and exotic flower plants will be used while all the trees are being trimmed for the occasion too. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's Garden Department is spending at least Rs 3.86 crores on the arrangement. 

Workers from other states have been called to help with the preparations at Gandhi Ashram and Motera Stadium. Specialist artisans have been called to execute plumbing, seating and electric work. A large number of artisans have been called from Punjab, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

At the Gandhi Ashram, PM Modi and President Trump will pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi's statue. Trump is the only other world leader after China's Xi Jinping, Japan's Shinzo Abe, and Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu to visit the Mahatma's residence which is called Hriday Kunj.

President Trump is set to undertake many official engagements in New Delhi and Gujarat and "interact with a wide cross-section of Indian society" on this trip. 

While Donald and Melania have mentioned that they are "excited" and looking forward to their trip to India. Trump tweeted, ''Great honor, I think?  Mark Zuckerberg recently stated that “Donald J. Trump is Number 1 on Facebook. Number 2 is Prime Minister Modi of India.” Actually, I am going to India in two weeks. Looking forward to it!'' 

Melania in a tweet said, "Looking forward to visiting Ahmedabad and New Delhi later this month." Melania Trump said her maiden trip to India as the First Lady is an occasion to celebrate the close ties between the two countries. She also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the "kind invitation" to visit India.

Meanwhile, BJP's estranged ally Shiv Sena on Saturday (February 15) said that the United States Administration has landed India in big crisis by removing it from the list of developing countries. In an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana', the Maharashtra-based party mentioned that the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has recently taken India off the developing country list ahead of President Trump's visit, which is not a good development. 

"The Trump Administration has thrown a 'googly'. India is now no more a developing country but a developed nation. This is a big crisis for India. India is miles away from the status of developed countries on parameters like education, health, employment, cleanliness and poverty alleviation," the Saamana editorial stated.

Expressing further concerns, the editorial said, ''India is not a developed country and now it will no more avail the benefits that a developing nation gets.'' Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uddhav Thackeray-led party said that ''he will find a way out and will convert the bitter gourd sent by Trump into a sweet."