The bitter split of Reliance empire among Mukesh and Anil Ambani seemed to have pushed into background as the brothers today displayed bonhomie when they accompanied their mother Kokilaben to receive the prestigious Padma Vibhushan awarded to their father late Dhirubhai Ambani.
Mukesh and Anil, along with their spouses Nita and Tina respectively, sat together and often spoke to each other at the Darbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan during the hour-long civil investiture ceremony.
Anil escorted Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu to Mukesh's seat for exchanging greetings before the function started.
Mukesh, chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd, was for most of the time in his designated seat along with wife Nita and sister-in-law Tina, while Anil, chairman of Reliance ADA group, was often seen escorting several Union Ministers and a few other dignitaries to their mother for introduction.
All four clapped together when Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi took the name of the Reliance founder for awarding the country's second highest civilian award posthumously, which was received by Kokilaben from President Pranab Mukherjee.
The Reliance empire was split among the two brothers after a bitter feud in 2005, three years after the demise of their illustrious father.
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Later in a statement, Kokilaben Ambani said that she was deeply grateful to President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central government for "the unparallelled recognition" to her husband.
"Dhirubhai lived a life of simplicity and humility, creating world class assets for the nation and great wealth for the country and his fellow countrymen on a scale never witnessed before.
"In his own words, I take this occasion to pray that thousands more Dhirubhai Ambanis are born to our great country to accelerate our social and economic development for the lasting benefit of our over 1.3 billion fellow Indians," she said.
