I.J. NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton hosted a lunch on Nov. 24 at the State Department to honor Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur. U.S. Second Lady Jill Biden was also present.

Lunch guests included Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, Christina Romer of the Council of Economic Advisers, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senators Chris Dodd(D-Conn), and Joe Lieberman(I-Conn); Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and Reps. Gary Ackerman(D-NY), Howard Berman(D-Calif) and Jim McDermott(D-Wash).

The entire Indian delegation and some White House and State Department staffers also attended.  Other prominent Indians were Ratan Tata, Ranjana Khanna,Vinod Shah, President of AAAPI, CEO of Infosys, S. Gopalkrishnan, Indra Nooyi of Pepsico, Dr. Rajwant Singh, Chairman of Sikh Council on Religion and Education, Sant Singh Chatwal, Swadesh Chatterjee, Rajesh Soin from OH, Dr. Sanjay Gupta from MI, former Ambassadors Frank Wisner and Thomas Pickering, author Thomas Friedman, TV journalist Fareed Zakaria, Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke.

VP Biden led the toast in honor of the PM Manmohan Singh. Manmohan Singh returned the favor by leading a toast in honor of Joe Biden. Hillary Clinton praised Manmohan Singh’s leadership in leading India in the field of education. VP acknowledged the former Presidents Clinton and Bush for bringing both nations together and he said that President Obama is going to follow the same tradition.

Manmohan Singh appreciated the role of Hillary Clinton both as First Lady and as Senator and Co-chairman of the India Caucus for bringing closeness between the oldest democracy and the largest democracy.  Fish with green beans and barley was served. Vegetarian food was served for many Indians including the PM.