Prime Minister Manmohan Singh might not have disappointed Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YSR Reddy when he lauded the state's role in bringing India on the world map.
The organisers of PBD 2006 and the Andhra Pradesh Govt officials heaved a sigh of relief, when recommendations came from a politician, not known for political rhetoric.
Reeling under terror threat that preceded the three-day event, the state capital needed a moral boost.
The PM, who inaugurated the event by lighting the traditional lamp, did not disappoint, paying rich tributes to rich cultural heritage of Hyderabad, which has, from the time of the Nizams, come a log way, to be called the IT hub of India.
The Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC), said to be South Asia's first world-class convention centre, which opened on Saturday, is a living testimony to the outsiders willing to have truck with Indian states, IISc attack in Bangalore notwithstanding.
A joint venture between Emaar Properties and the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corp Ltd (APIIC), a government-owned company, the centre has been built at a cost of $39 million near Hitec City, a cluster of IT companies on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
"Hyderabad symbolises the idea of India, the idea of being Indian. Hyderabad's composite culture, its cosmopolitanism and its modernism have always been admired. Long before we had NRIs and PIOs, this land was home to teachers and traders who went to distant lands as ambassadors of a great civilisation," the PM said.
{{/usCountry}}"Hyderabad symbolises the idea of India, the idea of being Indian. Hyderabad's composite culture, its cosmopolitanism and its modernism have always been admired. Long before we had NRIs and PIOs, this land was home to teachers and traders who went to distant lands as ambassadors of a great civilisation," the PM said.
{{/usCountry}}"Centuries later, when the Charminar was built, one of the four roads leading away from it went straight to the port of Machilipatnam from where pearls of East Asia came to Hyderabad," he added.
"I am sure delegates to this conference have set time aside to buy Hyderabad's legendary pearls," he quipped, and added, "they remain the symbols of this city's past globalisation."
Eulogising Hyderabad's rich pool of talent in various fields such as pharma, bio-tech and sports, the Prime Minister also spoke about the "international airport project which is on track". It will help improve world's connectivity with Hyderabad.