At power-packed event, diplomacy, chatter...and a toast for teetotallers

“Welcome to the Washington home of PM Modi,” President Joe Biden told a glittering cast of America’s executive, legislative, financial, tech and foreign policy elite, and several accomplished Indians and Indian-Americans, at a pavilion off the south lawns of White House on Thursday night.

- Prashant Jha

At the state dinner in honour of the Prime Minister, with Modi standing beside him, Biden offered a toast to the partnership and possibilities that lay ahead between “two great friends, two great nations, two great powers” — his third reference to India as a great power during the day.

For Modi, who said he was speaking about India-US ties for the fifth or sixth time during the day and had lost count, it was a moment to express his deep gratitude to both President Biden, and as his repeated acknowledgments showed, Jill Biden, who had curated the event.

Modi recalled that he had been on a fast when Biden, as vice president, had hosted a banquet for him in 2014. “And I still remember you kept asking me if I would eat anything. You were very concerned… today, I am here to make up for it.” He offered a toast to the pursuit of happiness, liberty, equality, fraternity and the everlasting bonds between the two countries.