PM had only warm water at White House dinner; Obama asks ‘Kem cho’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama during briefing the media in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Tuesday. (Photo: PTI)
Washington: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held talks with US President Barack Obama on “substantive” bilateral, regional and international issues including defence, security, trade and situation in West Asia in view of threat by Islamic State militants.
Mr Modi drove straight from Blair House to the West Wing of the White House to hold talks with Mr Obama, first in restrictive format followed by delegation level. This is the second meeting between Mr Modi and Mr Obama, who hosted a private dinner for the Indian Prime Minister on his arrival from New York.
While Mr Modi was accompanied by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, national security adviser Ajit Doval, ambassador S. Jaishankar and other senior officials, Mr Obama was assisted by vice-president Joe Biden, secretary of state John Kerry, national security adviser Susan Rice and assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal.
On Monday night, Mr Modi and Mr Obama had met in an informal setting in Blue Room of the White House and shared their experiences after taking over as Prime Minister and the President respectively apart from discussing areas of cooperation in combating Ebola virus and the situation in war-torn Afghanistan.
Mr Obama welcomed Mr Modi by saying “Kem Cho” (How are you?) in Gujarati at the doorstep of the White House, ahead of the dinner.
“Thank you very much, President”, Mr Modi responded as the two leaders shook hands and walked inside.
The local Indian-Americans celebrated the Modi-Obama meeting by organising a cultural event and performing Garba dance in front of the White House. “The PM did not have anything except for warm water,” MEA spokesperson said.
( Source : PTI )
Next Story
