PM Modi rolls out red carpet for American ‘shehzadi’

US President Donald Trump’s Adviser and daughter Ivanka Trump took Hyderabad by storm well before she landed city to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Madhapur, co-hosted by India and the US.

PM Narendra Modi had extended her the invitation to visit the country during his bilateral visit to America this summer.

Ivanka, who is also an entrepreneur, is leading a delegation comprising White House officials and American entrepreneurs. The theme of this year’s summit is ‘Women First, Prosperity for All’ and will include 1,200 young entrepreneurs, most of them women.

Over 10,000 additional security personnel, according to media reports, have been stationed in the city for her 36-hour visit—considered as her biggest foreign mission since her father became president.

PM Modi landed in Hyderabad via chopper. He went straight to Falaknuma Palace—former residence of Nizam Mehaboob Ali Khan in the old city area of Hyderabad—via road in the evening where he had arranged a royal banquet for Ivanka.

All through the day, TV channels kept harping on the royal preparations that the government made for the first daughter: More than 100 dishes being prepared for 1,500 guests at the royal banquet. Special Nizami dishes to be served to the US President Donald Trump's daughter. Accompanied by several VIPs, both of them will dine at the palace's famed 101-person table, according to reports.

Several social media users have been reacting to her visit and over-enthusiasm demonstrated by the BJP-led NDA government. While PM Modi hardly misses an opportunity to call Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi as ‘shehzada’, some Twitter users wondered how his government was extending royal treatment to the ‘shehzadi’.

“Why are we going crazy over Ivanka's visit, politics and optics aside? She is no entrepreneur. The position she holds in White House is due to nepotism, not any merit. Not to forget the conflict of interest in a private business person dealing with foreign leaders,” commented Wanderingsoul from Twitter handle @ipsita_3101.

Wrote another twitter user, Riju Jhunjhunwala: “Indian media lapping up American nepotism like how !! They seem to have no problem with #IvankaInIndia representing USA!”

Meanwhile, several Secunderabad residents staged protest against the government, alleging that roads that Ivanka Trump wasn’t expected to travel on were not renovated. The demonstrators along with members of the Congress party, took out a rally and requested Ivanka Trump to visit their road.