Obama hosts dinner for Modi

Washington, Sep 30: President

today hosted a private dinner for Prime Minister

at the White House here, ahead of their summit level talks.

Modi was welcomed by Obama who greeted him in Gujarati, "Kem Chho?" (how are you?), the mother tongue of the Prime Minister. Set in an informal ambiance, the dinner is the first opportunity for both the leaders to interact with each other. First Lady Michelle Obama, however, gave the dinner a miss.

Both the leaders were joined by 20 attendees at the dinner. The President was joined by Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Advisor Susan Rice among others. Modi was accompanied by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Indian Ambassador to the US, S Jaishankar among others.

PTI