AMN / WEB DESK
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has presented special gifts to President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden during their meeting at the White House in Washington, DC. The Prime Minister gifted Mr Biden a handcrafted sandalwood box intricately carved with flora and fauna patterns. The box is made by a master craftsman from Jaipur, Rajasthan, using sandalwood sourced from Mysore, Karnataka.
Mr Modi also presented a lab-grown 7.5-carat green diamond to First Lady Jill Biden, reflecting the chemical and optical properties of earth-mined diamonds while being eco-friendly. The diamond is placed in a Papier mâché box, showcasing Kashmir’s exquisite craftsmanship. Furthermore, the Prime Minister gifted President Biden a first edition print of the English translation of the book The Ten Principal Upanishads. The book is co-authored by Mr Biden’s favourite Irish poet William Butler Yeats and Shri Purohit Swami, highlighting the shared admiration for Indian spirituality and the influence of Indian poet Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.
The sandalwood box gifted by Prime Mr Modi contains the idol of Ganesha and a diya, handcrafted by a family of fifth-generation silversmiths from Kolkata. As a part of ten donations, it also contains silver coconut, 24 karat gold coin and hallmarked silver coin aesthetically crafted by Rajasthan artisans.