New Delhi: The most expensive gift US President Joe Biden and his family received in 2023 was a $20,000 diamond, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented to the first lady, an annual accounting published by the US State Department has revealed.
Modi gifted the 7.5-carat, green, lab-grown and eco-friendly diamond to Jill Biden during his official state visit to the US in 2023. It was in a kar-e-kalamdani, a papier mâché box made in Kashmir.
The green diamond was “a beacon of responsible luxury that symbolises India’s 75 years of freedom and sustainable international relations”, a release by the PMO, India, said at the time.
According to a report released by the office of the chief of protocol under the US State Department, Jill Biden also received a brooch valued at $14,063 from the Ukrainian ambassador to the US, and a bracelet, brooch, and a $4,510 photograph album from the President and First Lady of Egypt.
The outgoing US president received several valuable presents, including a commemorative photo album valued at $7,100 from South Korea’s recently impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol, a $3,495 statue of Mongolian warriors from the Mongolian prime minister, a $3,300 silver bowl from the Sultan of Brunei, a $3,160 sterling silver tray from the president of Israel, and a collage worth $2,400 from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
US law requires executive branch officials to declare gifts worth over $480. The more expensive ones are mostly transferred to the National Archives or put on public display.
Recipients also have the option to buy the gifts from the US government at market value, though that is rare, particularly with the high-end items, according to a report in The Guardian.
The $20,000 diamond, manufactured by Surat-based grower Greenlab Diamonds, was retained for official use in the East Wing of the White House.
During his June 2023 visit, Modi gifted Biden a handcrafted sandalwood box containing a silver idol of Lord Ganesha, a diya and the ‘das danams‘ or donations of 10 different kinds.
The Prime Minister also gifted Joe Biden a copy of the first edition print of the book—The Ten Principal Upanishads.
PM Modi received a handmade, antique American book galley from the US first family. The Bidens also gave him a vintage American camera, a hardcover book of American wildlife photography and a signed, first-edition copy of Collected Poems by Robert Frost.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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