When Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the south portico of the White House on Wednesday evening, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden were waiting to receive him. Warm greetings, a joke and some laughter later, as national security adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval and foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra waited in the background, Modi and the Bidens walked in for a private dinner that America’s first couple hosted for the Prime Minister to kick off Modi’s historic state visit to the US.
While neither side offered details on the content of the conversation — which, one can reasonably surmise, would have included the current geopolitical moment, including China’s behaviour, and the unprecedented momentum in India-US ties, including elements from the joint statement to be released late on Thursday — the evening provided an opportunity for leaders to reconnect at a personal level ahead of a busy official schedule, according to those involved in the planning of the visit.
The dinner menu included President Biden’s favourite items, including pasta and ice cream.
And together, along with US NSA Jake Sullivan and Doval, the two men who have played a central role in driving the substantive outcomes for the visit, the Bidens and Modi enjoyed a musical tribute to the various regions of India, including Gujarat by performers from Studio Dhoom, an Indian dance studio in the wider Washington area that connects a new generation to Indian culture.
At the dinner, Modi gifted Biden a special sandalwood box, with sandalwood sourced from Mysuru and the box handcrafted by a master craftsman from Jaipur. The box contained a silver idol of Ganesh, an oil lamp, a copper plate, and 10 silver boxes that contained offerings from various regions of India. The gift was a recognition of Biden turning 80 years and eight months on July 20. The inscription on the gift read, “The one who completes eighty years and eight months of age as per the solar calendar is considered to be ‘Dristha Sahasrachandro’ or ‘the one who has seen one thousand full moons’,” a quote from the Yajur Veda. Modi also gave Biden a copy of the first edition of The Ten Principal Upanishads, co-authored by WB Yeats, one of Biden’s favourite poets who he has quoted innumerable times in his remarks including during his presidency.
{{/usCountry}}At the dinner, Modi gifted Biden a special sandalwood box, with sandalwood sourced from Mysuru and the box handcrafted by a master craftsman from Jaipur. The box contained a silver idol of Ganesh, an oil lamp, a copper plate, and 10 silver boxes that contained offerings from various regions of India. The gift was a recognition of Biden turning 80 years and eight months on July 20. The inscription on the gift read, “The one who completes eighty years and eight months of age as per the solar calendar is considered to be ‘Dristha Sahasrachandro’ or ‘the one who has seen one thousand full moons’,” a quote from the Yajur Veda. Modi also gave Biden a copy of the first edition of The Ten Principal Upanishads, co-authored by WB Yeats, one of Biden’s favourite poets who he has quoted innumerable times in his remarks including during his presidency.
{{/usCountry}}He also gave the First Lady a lab-grown 7.5 carat green diamond.
According to the White House, the Bidens gifted Modi a handmade, antique American book galley from the early 20th Century, while the President also gave him a vintage American camera, accompanied by an archival facsimile print of George Eastman’s Patent of the first Kodak camera, and a hardcover book of American wildlife photography. The First Lady gifted a signed, first edition copy of the Collected Poems of Robert Frost.
According to diplomats closely involved in the relationship, the real significance of the evening lay in the private time that the two leaders got at a personal level ahead of a schedule that will witness them together several times, but in wider public settings or with a wider set of accompanying officials. An administration official told HT, “Biden really likes Modi. There is a personal connect there which may surprise people. This dinner gave them an opportunity to reconnect at that personal level and exchange notes informally about how they see the world. And don’t underestimate how much that has helped in driving the relationship and driving both our systems to deliver results for our leaders.”