President Barack Obama on Monday hosted a private dinner for Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House here, ahead of their summit level talks.
Modi was welcomed by Obama who greeted him in Gujarati, “Kem Chho?” (How are you?). The informal dinner was the first opportunity for both the leaders to interact with each other. However, Michelle Obama gave the dinner a miss.
Obama received Modi at the South Gate of the White House and the dinner was held in the Blue Room of the President’s official residence. The Blue Room is used for receptions and receiving lines, and is occasionally set for small dinners.
Both the leaders were joined by 20 attendees at the dinner. The President was joined by Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Advisor Susan Rice among others.
Modi was accompanied by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Indian Ambassador to the U.S., S Jaishankar among others.
The “rockstar” treatment given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the prestigious Madison Square Garden by some 20,000 Indian-American people is reflective of the “deep cultural ties” between the two countries, the White House said on Monday.
Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton also called on PM Modi and discussed Indo-U.S. relations. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was also present during the meeting.
He also met a galaxy of top American corporate honchos, including from Boeing, IBM, PepsiCo, BlackRock and Google on Monday.
On Tuesday morning, Modi offered tribute to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi opposite the Indian embassy in Washington, DC and visited the Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King memorials.
He met President Obama and his team for the summit after which he had lunch with Biden, Kerry and other officials. PM Modi later traveled to Capitol Hill to meet House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner. He also met with businessmen at an event hosted by the U.S.-India Business Council.
On Tuesday evening, at around 7 pm, Modi departed for India.