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Now Obama-Modi in ‘kem cho’ diplomacy

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Washington: President Barack Obama hosted a private dinner for Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House in Washington on Tuesday.

Modi was welcomed by Obama who greeted him in Gujarati, “Kem Chho?” (how are you?), the mother tongue of the Prime Minister.

Set in an informal ambiance ahead of their summit level talks, the dinner is the first opportunity for both the leaders to interact with each other.

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. First Lady Michelle Obama, however, gave the dinner a miss.

Modi was accompanied by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Indian Ambassador to the US, S Jaishankar among others.

As Obama hosted Modi for dinner, the local Indian-Americans celebrated the Modi-Obama meeting by organizing a cultural event and performing “Garbha” dance in front of the White House.

A small group of Kashmiri separatists and Sikh separatists also held a protest outside the White House building, but they were far outnumbered by the pro-Modi supporters.

There was an unprecedented level of security in and around the White House and Blair House, the official guest house of the US President, in view of the two recent security breaches.

The Pennsylvania Avenue was closed for most part of the evening and the pro-Modi group and the protesters were pushed far behind when the motorcade crossed the avenue on its way to the White House.

Obama received Modi at the South Gate of the White House and the dinner was held in 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.

Briefing the media about Modi’s first ever meeting with Obama, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said that the two leaders shared commonalities and challenges faced on assuming power.

Akbaruddin said Modi laid out his hopes and aspirations for India and his developmental vision in a meeting which lasted 90 minutes.

He also said that both the dynamic leaders agreed that US-Indo relation is most important and it was incumbent for both to strengthen it.

Further, he also talked about Modi’s gifts to President Obama which included a special edition of Bhagavad Gita by Mahatma Gandhi.

(With inputs from PTI, ANI)

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