For George W. Bush, the man who led the war against terror, there couldn’t have been a better venue for his meeting with business leaders in the commercial capital of the country. With the first anniversary of the terror attack in Mumbai just 26 days away, former US president Bush met around 40 industrialists and financial wizards at Hotel Taj Mahal Palace and Tower which was ravaged by terrorists last year.

“Many business leaders like former Hindustan Unilever chief Ashok Ganguly, former TCS MD S Ramadorai and ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar were present at the dinner meeting,” said a senior businessman who was present at the meeting organised by Fairfax. “People asked questions about his experience as the US president and how Indo-US ties could be strengthened. He answered a lot of questions from the members present,” he said.

However, Tata group supremo Ratan Tata and the Ambani brothers were not present at the meeting. The meeting was a closed-door event and the media was kept away from the venue.