Encourage entrepreneurship, stop radicalisation

Sirajuddin Qureshi, India's leading meat-exporter to the world and president of the India Islamic Cultural Centre, said being at the summit "was a unique experience."

"To participate in the major entrepreneurial summit and interact with all of these wonderful innovative entrepreneurs was a highlight of my life," said Qureshi, managing director, Hind Group of Comprises.

"We exchanged ideas, we networked and we shared our experiences. It has been a successful meeting and I am looking forward to the next one, which President Obama announced will be in Turkey."

Many have described the summit as a Muslim Entrepreneurship Summit. "They will criticise because he (Obama) announced last June in Cairo that he wanted to do something to bridge the gap between the Muslim community and America," Qureshi said.

"He has taken a right, principled and bold decision. America is not liked by any Muslim country, so this is a wonderful way to bring people together. The entrepreneurial community of Muslims can do wonders to heal this rift between America and the Muslim world. Once they are in business, they become well-rounded, global and progressive and are no longer parochial. They can promote their own communities."

Qureshi said this was a good strategy. "By promoting entrepreneurship in the Muslim world, Muslim youth won't get radicalised," he explained.

"They will think deeply about becoming entrepreneurs and making productive lives for themselves and their families."

He added that the message had gotten through, including to the millions of Muslims in India, that President Obama was sincere in trying to ensure that "America is trying to reach out to the Muslims."

He said Obama's effort would "be successful, if not today, tomorrow."

Later, Qureshi joined the other Indian delegates at a felicitation reception hosted by Ambassador Arun Kumar Singh, deputy chief of mission and discussed his business with the audience.

Qureshi recalled the political problems and obstacles he had to overcome in building his business and how he now sustains poor farmers in several villages and provides them with roads to bring their livestock to the market, electricity, water and their children with education.

He said his company was now in contact "with 150,000 farmers in over 35,000 villages. When I started exporting meat, I started with Rs 11,000 ($247). Our turnover now is over Rs 1,000 crore ($224.6 million)."

Qureshi said he had also helped his community who have been butchers through generations, to modernise slaughter-houses and shops and "built some of the biggest plants in the country. The latest is being built in Chennai with a capacity of 200 tonnes everyday."