PM hosts dinner for Obamas

7 Nov : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday night hosted a private dinner for visiting US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle which was attended by political bigwigs, business leaders, actors and sports personalities.
The Obamas drove to the 7, Race Course Road residence of Singh from ITC Maurya where they are staying.

They were warmly welcomed by Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur.
The guests included UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, senior Union Ministers Pranab Mukherjee, A K Antony, P Chidambaram, S M Krishna and Sharad Pawar, senior BJP leader L K Advani and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

Top business leaders Azim Premji, Ratan Tata, Swati Piramal and N R Narayanamurthy were among the guests which also included Bollywood personalities Aamir Khan, Shabana Azmi and Javed Akthar.
Chess wizard Viswanathan Anand and Environmental Activist Sunita Narain was also present at the dinner.
Ahead of the dinner, Singh and Obama were closeted for a one-on-one meeting for about 25 minutes during which the two leaders were understood to have taken stock of bilateral ties and ways to push these to higher levels of strategic partnership.

The two leaders are believed to have taken an overview of the bilateral relations, which have grown substantially over the last few years.

Earlier in the day, Singh set aside protocol and went to the Indira Gandhi International airport to receive the US First Couple who arrived in New Delhi on Sunday on the second leg of the visit after a hectic 26-hour stay in Mumbai.

Union Ministers who attended the event included Anand Sharma, Prithviraj Chavan, Salman Khursheed and US Ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer.

As Obama reached the Prime Minister’s residence, 30 camel-mounted BSF personnel welcomed him by playing bugles and trumpets.

The personnel in their traditional uniform played different tunes which were enjoyed by the US President and Michelle.

PM, Obama meeting ahead of formal talks
On the eve of their formal talks, PM Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama had a meeting in New Delhi on Sunday night during which the two leaders are understood to have taken stock of bilateral ties and ways to push these to higher levels of strategic partnership.

Singh and Obama had a one-on-one meeting for about 25 minutes before the private dinner hosted by the Prime Minister for the visiting leader and his wife Michelle at his 7, Race Course Road residence.
The two leaders are believed to have taken an overview of the bilateral relations, which have grown substantially over the last few years.

Singh and Obama, who will hold wide-ranging talks on Monday, are understood to have discussed ways in which the two countries could raise their cooperation to higher levels, particularly in economic, security, agriculture and science and technology.

The two sides will be issuing a Joint Statement on Monday which will outline new areas of cooperation at bilateral and multilateral levels.