Click to play videoNew Delhi: Indian mangoes have hit the American markets after nearly two decades.
A mango festival was held in Washington DC on Wednesday, an event which was hailed by the US as an "important step" to bolster bilateral trade.
A year after the mango initiative was launched by US President George W Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the first consignment of Alphonso and Kesari mangoes arrived in Washington on Tuesday.
It's a sign of the growing ties between the two countries, irrespective of slow progress on the nuclear deal. Top American officials said it represented more than just a market opening for the fruit.
An excited US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said, "the Indian mangoes I enjoyed today represent more than just a market opening for one product." During his visit to India in March 2006, Bush had expressed a keen desire to have Indian mangoes.
The officials said the Indian mango export signals the resolve of both sides to forge stronger trade ties and create significant new economic opportunities for the people of the two countries.
The President of the US-India Business Council (USIBC), Ron Somers, described the arrival of the king of fruits as a joyous occasion and said the "US willingness to purchase Indian mangoes is another important step towards deeper engagement and more robust US-India trade."
At a press conference at the Embassy of India where visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshanker Menon was present, Ambassador Ronen Sen spoke of the mangoes' issue as a symbolic and substantive move in bilateral relations.
Symbolically, Sen argued it was emblematic of the relationship between the two countries.
(With agency inputs)
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