Obama's stage in Mumbai to be Gateway and Taj

The Gateway of India and Taj Mahal Hotel will provide US President Barack Obama the ultimate photo-op when he visits the city on his first official India trip in November. Obama will address a meeting of Mumbai’s influential citizens in the backdrop of Mumbai’s signature monument, set opposite the city’s iconic 107-year-old hotel, which bore the brunt of the 26/11 terror attack.

The symbolism couldn’t be more poignant. The US President is expected to reiterate his country’s solidarity with India in their relentless battle against terror. Television crews and newspaper correspondents from all over the world are expected to converge on Mumbai to capture the moment. The US President is also expected to stay at the Taj during his short sojourn in the city.

This will not be the first time that a top US leader is sending out a strong signal to India and to the world. In July 2009, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on her first visit to India as Obama’s chief diplomat, stayed in the Tower Wing of the Taj in an act of solidarity with the victims of the Mumbai terror attacks.

Obama’s decision to address the meeting in front of the Taj and Gateway will have predictable consequences. The entire precinct is expected to be converted into a military camp, as security agencies of both countries leave nothing to chance.

Some 32 people were killed at the Taj and over 1,000 were trapped in the hotel when terror struck in November 2008. The hotel’s famous dome was singed by flames and its walls and windows were shattered and pocked with gunfire.

The hotel reopened fully on India’s Independence Day this year after a Rs 200-crore renovation. In two months, when the US President rises to make his speech, the Taj will watch in defiant splendour as testament to India’s indomitable spirit.