A scheduled 25-minute meeting between US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lingered for 50 minutes at the residence of the PM where the US first couple attended a private dinner that was graced by the political and cultural royalty of India.
The Prime Minister and the US President were understood to have discussed bilateral issues and their strategic partnerships.
From Bollywood actors to India’s famous sports personalities and corporate bigwigs, the residence of Prime Minister has perhaps never witnessed a more high profile attendance like Sunday night.
The power dinner was attended by 60 guests who included among others Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Pranab Mukherjee, A K Antony, S M Krishna, L K Advani, Arun Jaitley, Viswanathan Anand, Aamir Khan, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Ratan Tata, Azim Premji and N R Narayan Murthy.
Later the President and his wife left for the ITC Maurya Sheraton Hotel in Chanakyapuri where they are staying.
Earlier, arriving in New Delhi from Mumbai, Obama and his wife visited Humayun’s tomb and lavished praise on the 450-year-old redstone monument, which had reportedly inspired the creation of Taj Mahal.
“Wonderful. Let’s take a look,” Obama said as he entered the main building.
The US’ first couple was received by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur at the New Delhi airport.
The PM brushed aside protocol to receive them in the airport.
The official component of Obama?s visit is on Nov 8, beginning with the ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan, followed by a visit to Raj Ghat.