'Success of Hyderabad summit defines Indo-US relations'

The US today said that the success of the GES Summit is indicative of its strong bilateral ties with India.

Washington DC: The United States administration of President Donald Trump on Thursday hailed Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) which is being held in India's Hyderabad and said that its tremendous success is indicative of the strong bilateral relationship between the two great nations.

Calling the GES Summit a "tremendous success", the Spokesperson for the United States Department of State, Heather Nauert, said, "I am so proud that the US and India held the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad... I think it's a tremendous success when we bring in 1500 entrepreneurs from around the world."

Hailing the Indo-US ties, Nauert said, ''We have a wonderful relationship with PM Modi and India. A part of our constant conversations is to do more to help with North Korea. It is a global problem and a threat. Hope that India will do more and we’ll continue to have those conversations with government.''

We have a wonderful relationship with PM Modi and India. A part of our constant conversations is do more to help with North Korea.It is a global problem&threat. Hope India will do more&we’ll continue to have those conversations with government: Heather Nauert,US State Dept pic.twitter.com/sMyWRD38hg

— ANI (@ANI) November 30, 2017

When asked about Ivanka Trump leading the US delegation in the summit, she said, "We are also proud that Ivanka Trump, President Donald Trump's daughter and one of his most trusted and closest adviser, led the US delegation over there. I, personally, think of no better representative of a woman entrepreneur in the US than her to go over there."

Ivanka Trump was personally invited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June earlier this year to spearhead the delegation.

Ivanka's visit to India has been clouded by US media reports questioning Trump's clothing line and its supply chain as well as what some view as a snub by Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State, who had reportedly refused to send senior staff with Trump to India. But Nauert clearly rubbished these reports.

"The State Department was very much involved in helping to facilitate all of these. We have a bunch of people on the ground there," the US spokesperson added.

On the 1500 entrepreneurs from across the world attending the summit, Nauert said, "Our embassies helped in nominating, if I understand that correctly, many of the entrepreneurs from around the world. Picking entrepreneurs saying that we would like to help you get to India to be able to talk about the great work you are doing, the jobs that you are growing."

"Part of the theory behind that is women's empowerment and getting more women into the workforce by helping them succeed in growing companies by finding investors for those companies. So, we are pleased with that, that we brought in 1500 and more than half of those are women," she added.

The three-day summit, which is being hosted for the first time in South East Asia, began in Hyderabad on Monday.

"Technology is a great driver of entrepreneurship because a lot of women are leaving and saying this doesn't work for me. It is emboldening them to go out on their own. It is reducing barriers to starting new businesses, and creating flexibility around the schedule," Ivanka Trump had said earlier in the summit. 

Ivanka Trump and the US delegates accompanying her were given a red carpet welcome in India and treated to a variety of Hyderabadi delicacies includingh biryani.

US President Donald Trump's daughter and other delegates of the GES Summit also attended a gala dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the iconic Taj Falaknuma Palace on Tuesday.

Modi, Telangana Governor ESL Narasimhan, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and some top politicians and industrialists dined with Ivanka on the 101-seater dining table at the palace hotel. 

Ivanka and the US officials accompanying her were given a 'taste of India' at the extravagant dinner and were treated to famous Hyderabadi specialities like dahi ke kebab, gosht shikampuri kebab, kubani ke malai kofta, murg pista ka salan and sitaphal kulfi.

The five-course meal centred around the cuisine of Hyderabad and was reportedly designed by the Taj Falaknuma’s Executive Chef Sajesh Nair.

Ivanka was given a royal treatment and was ferried from the main gate to the palace atop the hill in a horse-drawn carriage of the Nizam era. She and other guests were greeted with a rose petal shower on entering the palace.

The White House advisor also went around the palace, which was once the residence of the Nizam, the ruler of erstwhile princely State of Hyderabad.

(With ANI inputs)