Women Power: Swaraj, Ivanka Trump bond at UNGA

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended an invite to the US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump to be her father’s goodwill ambassador and lead the US delegation to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in India this year, it was hailed as a significant diplomatic move considering how Ivanka has emerged as one of the most influential people in the Trump administration.

Taking a step forward, India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met Ivanka Trump on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly summit in New York and discussed women empowerment and the upcoming entrepreneurship summit in Hyderabad which PM Modi is very keen on promoting to showcase the best brains of the country.

Post the meeting, Ivanka expressed her respect for Sushma Swaraj in a tweet, saying:

“I have long respected India’s accomplished and charismatic Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, and it was an honor to meet her today.” She added in another tweet, “We had a great discussion on women’s entrepreneurship, the upcoming #GES2017 and workforce development in the US and India.” Ivanka is expected to be joined by her husband Jared Kushner at the three-day summit in November that would be attended by about 1,600 entrepreneurs from across the world including 400 each from India and the US.

Mr. Modi’s push to get Ivanka to lead the US delegation is also in keeping with the theme of the GES this year: “Women First, Prosperity for All”. Ivanka Trump has been instrumental in pushing forward several women empowerment programmes in the US from the creation of the World Bank fund for women entrepreneurs to working on the employment challenges faced by military wives and advocating equal pay and conducive work conditions for women.

Besides being an Advisor to the President, whose importance has not been lost on anyone who has been dealing with the US administration since Trump took office, Ivanka is also a businesswoman in her own right with a fashion line under her name. She has also authored two books – Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work and Life (2009) and Women Who Work: Rewriting the Rules for Success (2017). Reviews of both the books have been scathing, but Ivanka has been unfazed as she has been to calls to boycott her clothing brand. In Women Who Workshe emphasises that being born with a silver spoon cannot guarantee success. “Curiosity, passion, hard work and perseverance have enabled me to prove my value to myself and others beyond my surname,” writes the mother of three.

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