Gift exchange between PM Modi and president Biden: silver, gold, diamond and much more

PM Modi gave a 7.5 carat diamond to the first lady Jill Biden

Joe Biden was given the first edition of ‘‘The Ten Principal Upanishads’

Updated: Jun 22nd, 2023

PM Modi and US president Joe Biden meeting at the white house

Prime minister Narendra Modi’s US visit to strengthen the ties between the two countries is currently ongoing. PM Modi and Biden exchanged a lot of gifts over their dinner in the white house. The first lady, Jill Biden, was also present at the event.

Modi’s gift to Biden included state-specialities

A sandalwood box, a silver box with ten gifts, and a lab-grown eco-friendly diamond were the centre of attractions from the gifts PM Modi gave to president Biden. 

According to reports, PM Modi gave a sandalwood box to Biden, which was hand-crafted in Jaipur, with the sandalwood sourced from Mysuru, Karnataka. The box contained a silver diya, a silver idol of Lord Ganesha created by a fifth-generation craftsperson from Kolkata, and a copper plate (tamra patra) with an inscribed ‘shloka’, made in Uttar Pradesh.

An advance birthday gift to president Biden

Modi also gifted Biden a birthday present way before the latter’s birthday in Nov. The significance of the gift was connected to Biden completing ‘eighty years and eight months’, when a person is given ‘Drishta Sahasrachandro’

It consists of a silver box with ‘das daanam’ (ten gifts) inside it. Here is what US president received from PM Modi:

  1. A handcrafted silver coconut by West Bengal’s artisans as gaudaan (cow)
  2. Sandalwood from Mysuru, Karnataka as bhudaan (land)
  3. White sesame seeds from Tamil Nadu as tildaan (sesame seeds)
  4. 24 carat gold coin from Rajasthan as hiranyadaan (gold)
  5. Ghee (clarified butter) from Punjab as ajyadaan (ghee)
  6. Handwoven textured tussar silk from Jharkhand as vastradaan (clothes)
  7. Long grained rice from Uttarakhand as dhaanyadaan (food grains)
  8. Jaggery from Maharashtra as guddaan (jaggery)
  9. 99.5% pure silver coin from Rajasthan as raupyadaan (silver)
  10. Salt from Gujarat lavandaan (salt)

Biden was also given ‘The Ten Principal Upanishads’ (the first edition), according to reports.

Jill Biden, the first lady of the US, received a green, lab-grown diamond of 7.5 carats. The diamond is eco-friendly since it is not mined, but was created with resources like solar and wind power. 

The diamond was put in a ‘papier mache’ box, representing Kashmir’s ‘kar-e-kalamdani’ made with paper pulp and with intricate ‘naqqashi’ (carving) on it.

Biden's gifts to Modi

In return, president Biden gave PM Modi an antique and handmade American Book galley. His gifts to Modi also included a vintage camera, a facsimile print of the patent of the first Kodak camera, and an American wildlife photography book with hardcover. 

Jill Biden gave him a first-edition, signed copy of ‘Collected Poems of Robert Frost’.

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