New York – The day started with a background conference call from the White House highlighting the excitement of the US First Family for the visit of the newly elected Indian Prime Minister.
Listening to the briefing by two top Senior Obama Administration officials it was clear as they announced, “The President and the First Lady are very excited and pleased to welcome Prime Minister to Washington and to the White House. This is a historic and pivotal moment in the history of our two democratic nations.”
Another welcoming gesture of President Barack Obama is to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stay at the official Blair House, which is across the road opposite to the White House. The official disclosed Obama and the First Lady would host a private dinner for the visiting Indian Prime Minister on September 29.
On the table with the Obamas, Modi will be joined by a delegation of several officials, said Syed Akbaruddin, Official Spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. Replying to my question during a press conference late Friday evening on the subject, Akbaruddin said, “It begins with the External Affairs Minister, the National Security Advisor, the Foreign Secretary, the Ambassador, and our Joint Secretary who handles America and who is the points person in that.”
Earlier in the day, Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman was asked to comment on the dilemma of Modi being on a fasting schedule. Addressing the daily briefing Earnest said, “It’s my understanding that we’re talking about a working dinner with a substantial number of people around the table. If Prime Minister Modi or other members who are participating in that working dinner choose not to eat based on their own religious or cultural observance, then we’ll certainly work to accommodate their needs as best we can.”
Obama would host a formal meeting with Modi at the Oval Office of the White House on the morning of Tuesday, September 30 while Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry would host him for lunch at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department.
The Senior Administration officials reiterated the Prime Minister’s landslide victory in India’s historic elections earlier this year, in May. “The Prime Minister comes to Washington with a significant mandate from the people of India and with a mandate for reform.”
“The two leaders would discuss the ways in which the United States can play a strong and supportive role in support of the Prime Minister’s objectives,” one of the officials told us and although a variety of topics including energy security, clean energy and clean technology would be discussed, the focus would be for the two leaders to sit down and chalk out a vision to make this the defining partnership of the 21st century.