Hyderabad: Ivanka Trump becomes the third top US figure to be hosted by Hyderabad city in the past one-and-a-half decades after Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush visited the city of Nawabs during their respective tenures.
However the visit by Ivanka, daughter and adviser to President Donald Trump appears to be generating a lot more interest and excitement in the city.
Ivanka, representing a combination of beauty and power, is expected to overshadow other speakers and delegates at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit — 2017, starting from November 28.
Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will also be attending the summit on the first day, has taken a keen interest in Ivanka’s visit.
He retweeted the post by Donald Trump confirming his daughter’s participation at GES a few months ago.
And now he has also retweeted Ivanka’s own post on Twitter.
“This week, Global Entrepreneurship Week, spotlights the incredible contributions of innovators across the globe. I am excited to join many of these remarkable entrepreneurs with Prime Minister @narendramodi in India for #GES2017 in just two weeks!,” Ivanka tweeted.
Modi, replying to the tweet, said, “We look forward to welcoming you @IvankaTrump. Closer economic cooperation between India and USA helps our people, particularly our talented and innovative entrepreneurs.”
The state government of Telangana and the Indian entrepreneurs were also excited that Ivanka’s visit will offer them a window of opportunity to show case what they have to offer in terms of opportunities and innovations.
Before Ivanka, Hyderabad played a host to the President Bill Clinton in March 2001 and George W. Bush, in March 2006 bringing the city under an unprecedented security blanket as the city airspace was also closed during their presence and the traffic on the roads they used were blocked for hours together.
Ivanka’s visit will mark a replay of the same, with more restrictions in place for the public, as the US and Indian security and intelligence agencies leave no stone unturned to ensure security as Prime Minister Modi will also be present in the city.
Authorities were paying special attention to the Taj Falaknuma Palace, a magnificent historic building turned into a five-star hotel, where Prime Minister Modi will be hosting a dinner for Ivanka and other delegates of the GES on November 28.
According to sources, the hotel’s famous “longest dining table”, with 101 seats, and which the Nizams of Hyderabad used for throwing banquets for visiting dignitaries in a chandeliered hall full of antiques, will be the centre of attraction.
It will be on this table that Modi, Ivanka and selected guests including the chief ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will be seated while the other delegates will be served dinner on the intricately manicured lawns of the palace offering a bird’s eye view of the Hyderabad city in the night.
Chief ministers of several other states including Maharashtra are also expected to attend the event.
The dinner will have selected items from Hyderabadi cuisine including Nizam favorites mutton birynai, mirchi ka salan and at least six different sweets.
Dinner the next day is to be hosted by state government at another historic landmark Golkonda Fort will offer the tast of rich and spicy Telangana cuisine.
Hyderabad city police have already started preparing for the event at both the venues, specially at the Falaknuma Palace which falls in the old city of Hyderabad. Apart from the city police, commandos from the Greyhound and anti-terror Octopus forces will ensure security around the palace — atop a hill — while the inner security ring will be formed by the Special Protection Group and the US Secret Service.
Deputy Commissioner of Police South Zone V. Satynarayana said that about 2,000 policemen will be deployed in the areas around Falaknuma Palace .
“Surveillance has already been stepped up and more CCTV cameras are being installed,” he said.
As a precautionary measure the policemen have already stepped up the patrolling in the colonies and were undertaking door to door visit to ensure that no strangers stay in the localities during the visits of VVIPs.
While officials have already launched a drive against the beggars by rounding up some of them and most others have vanished to avoid arrests, the police was also asking the footpath vendors and kiosks to shut down for almost a week during the GES in the areas like Hitec City, Golkonda and Falaknuma Palace.
The security related activities were likely to pick up the pace further after the advanced team of US Secret Service officials will arrive on Monday.
