07:50 (IST)
Dhokla, samosa and Indian sweets on the platter for Trump
Gujarati snack ‘khaman’ will be a part of the menu of high tea to be offered to US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania at Sabarmati Ashram. Chef Suresh Khanna of Fortune Landmark Hotel told ANI that they will also be offered broccoli and corn samosa, apple pie, kaju katli and a variety of teas.
07:47 (IST)
Sabarmati Ashram, Namaste Trump part of US President's itinerary on Day 1 of India visit
US President Donald Trump, along with First Lady Melania Trump and a high-level delegation, are scheduled to land in Ahmedabad at 11.40 am on Monday. He will then pay a visit to the Sabarmati Ashram past noon.
Later, he will reach the Motera Stadium to inaugurate it and be a part of the Namaste Trump event.
By 3.30 pm, Trump will leave for Agra and at 5.15 pm, he is scheduled to visit the Taj Mahal. He will leave for Delhi by 5.45 pm and arrive in the National Capital's Palam Air force Station by 7.30 pm.
Donald Trump India Visit LATEST Updates: US president Donald Trump will arrive in India on Monday for his highly-anticipated visit to the country, during which he will attend a grand event in Ahmedabad's Motera Stadium and visit the Sabarmati Ashram. He is expected to proceed to Delhi after a 15-minute visit to the Taj Mahal at Agra, where he will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a friend of mine. I had committed to this trip a long time back. I will be addressing a big rally," Trump said at the White House on Sunday before boarding Air Force one for his journey to India.
The US president, who is scheduled to arrive at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International airport at around 11.40 am on Monday, will participate along with Modi in roadshows on his way from the airport to Sabarmti Ashram and from there to the newly-built Sardar Patel cricket stadium, where over one lakh people are expected to be present for the 'Namaste Trump' event.
Trump, who is also accompanied by the First Lady Melania, his daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner and the top brass of his administration, will get a taste of India's cultural potpourri during the first leg of his visit.
In Ahmedabad, preparations are in the final stages for the song and dance performance that will take place along the 22-kilometre route of the 'India roadshow'. Huge billboards of the two leaders and replicas of historic places in Gujarat have also been placed along the roads where people will greet the two leaders.
Billboard with slogans hailing Indo-US relations like 'the world's oldest democracy meets the world's largest democracy' and 'stronger friendship for a brighter future', and pictures of Trump and Modi walking together, shaking hands, and waving at the crowd during the 'Howdy Modi' event in the US last year have come up at prominent places. A cut-out of the 12th century 'Kirti Toran' (a pair of columns supporting an arch), from Modi's hometown Vadnagar in Gujarat's Mehsana district, has also been put up outside the Ahmedabad airport to welcome Trump.
Even as preparations were being given the final touches, two makeshift VVIP entry gates erected outside the newly-built cricket stadium in Motera collapsed due to gusty winds on Sunday morning. However, no one was injured in either of the incidents, officials said.
Tight security arrangements are in place with the deployment of over 10,000 police personnel, besides officials of the United States Secret Service, personnel of the National Security Guards (NSG) and the Special Protection Group (SPG).
Earlier in the day, Modi took to Twitter to extend his welcome to Trump.
India looks forward to welcoming @POTUS @realDonaldTrump.
It is an honour that he will be with us tomorrow, starting with the historic programme in Ahmedabad! https://t.co/fAVx9OUu1j
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 23, 2020
He will accompany Trump to the Sabarmati Ashram, which was home to Mahatma Gandhi from 1917-1930 during India's freedom struggle. Several world leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had visited Sabarmati Ashram in recent years. Ashram secretary Amrut Modi said that Trump will spend 15 minutes at the place, where he would be told about the the importance of charkha (spinning wheel) as a symbol of self-reliance.
"Trump will visit the 'Hriday Kunj'. If he wishes, he will spin a charkha (spinning wheel). We will also gift him a coffee-table book, and a book containing 150 quotations of Gandhi," the Ashram official said. Hriday Kunj is a room on the Ashram premises where Mahatma Gandhi and his wife Kasturba Gandhi had lived for 12 years between 1918 and 1930.
The US president will spend the rest of his time in Ahmedabad at the Namaste Trump extravaganza, where Bollywood singers Kailash Kher and Parthiv Gohil, and Gujarati folk singers like Kirtidan Gadhvi, Gita Rabari, Purushottam Upadhyay and Sairam Dave will perform. Students of various government and private schools have also been roped in to perform at cultural events and they have been practicing for days, an official said. Modi and Trump will also address the gathering. Trump is expected to reach the venue by 1.o5 pm.
Trump and his entourage will fly to Agra, which has been spruced up for the visit with massive billboards and American and Indian flags displayed on all major roads. Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will welcome the US president on his arrival at the Kheria airport at 4.30 pm on Monday where a group of about 350 artistes will be performing.
A large number of security personnel have been deployed across the city, especially along the nearly 13-km route to be taken by Trump's convoy from the airport to the Amarvilas hotel, and in and around the Taj. In the main city, old roads were repaired, road-dividers painted afresh, illegal hoardings and posters removed, and walls along the route that President Trump will take decorated with painting reflecting the Brij culture and architectural heritage of Agra. Water was being sprayed regularly to ensure there is no dust.
According to the official schedule, the US president will arrive with his family at the Taj Mahal complex at 5:15 pm on Monday and spend about an hour at the famed 17th century mausoleum, built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.
He will leave for Delhi at 6.15 pm for the main leg of the visit during which restricted and delegation-level talks between Trump and Modi will be at Hyderabad House on Tuesday. The eagerly awaited tour of India is expected to significantly ramp up bilateral defence and strategic ties but unlikely to produce tangible outcome in resolving thorny issues like trade tariffs.
The nearly 36-hour-long visit by Trump is also set to send across a clear message of growing congruence of interests on major geopolitical developments in the region and beyond, particularly when China has been expanding its military and economic clout.
On Tuesday, Travel restrictions will come into place at the Taj Mahal, the floors and arches of which were cleaned and polished by workers ahead of the high profile visit. Water has been continuously discharged into the polluted Yamuna in the last few days to improve its environmental condition and get rid of the foul smell emanating from it, and its banks have been cleaned of plastic and other waste.
In Taj Ganj, the area neighbouring the mausoleum, uniorm billboards have been installed in many shops. "About a week ago, the boards were changed to a uniform look for all shops to present a beautiful look. We are very excited about President Trump's visit," said Pawan Kumar, who runs a sweet shop.
The president and the First Lady would be accorded a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, on the morning of 25 February. Before the wide-ranging talks between Modi and Trump at the Hyderabad House at 11 am, the couple will visit Rajghat to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi. Following the meeting, Modi will host a lunch for the US president.
In their talks on Tuesday, Trump and Modi are expected to touch on a gamut of bilateral and regional issues including trade and investment, defence and security, counter-terrorism, energy security, proposed peace deal with Taliban in Afghanistan and situation in the Indo-Pacific, according to Indian and US officials. Trump is also likely to raise the issue of religious freedom and discuss the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National register of Citizens (NRC), protests against which have convulsed the country for over two months.
Trump is accompanied by a high-powered delegation comprising Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien and Energy Secretary Dan Broulliette.
In the afternoon, Trump is expected to attend certain private events at the US Embassy, including a roundtable with industry representatives. In the evening, the US president will attend a banquet hosted by President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, following which he will depart at 10 pm.
With inputs from PTI
from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/2HOppcf
No comments:
Post a Comment