New York: The US State Department has released a list of gifts presented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Indian government officials to various American leaders, including former President Joe Biden. The Office of the Chief of Protocol of the US State Department has presented a detailed list of ‘gifts received from foreign government sources’. The ministry said that this list also includes reports of material gifts as well as travel gifts or travel expenses of value more than the minimum value. The minimum price for calendar year 2024 (January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024) is US$480.

What did PM Modi give to Biden?

The list includes ‘wooden chest, scarf, saffron with jar, wooden box for tea leaves’ gifted by PM Modi to Biden on September 10, 2023, whose estimated value is US $ 562. It said the chest, scarf, jar and box were transferred to the US National Archives (NARA), while the perishable items, saffron and tea, were ‘disposed of’ in accordance with US Secret Service policies. Biden traveled to New Delhi in September 2023 to participate in the G-20 leaders’ summit organized by India.

What gift did Biden’s wife get?

PM Modi gave a ‘sterling silver metal train set’ to Biden on July 16, 2024, whose estimated value is US $ 7,750. It has been transferred to NARA. The report mentions that Modi had gifted a ‘Pashmina Shawl’ to former US First Lady Jill Biden on October 21, 2024, whose estimated value is US $ 2,969. This shawl was also transferred to NASA. It also mentions the gift given by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to Jacob Sullivan, who was then the President’s National Security Affairs Assistant.

Kamala Harris also got a gift

Records show that on August 28, 2024, the Kashmiri Pashmina scarf presented with the box has an estimated value of US$599 and has been transferred to the General Services Administration (GSA). Modi presented ‘Lord Krishna Rasleela Silver Box’ to former US Vice President Kamala Harris on October 18, 2024. The gift has an estimated value of US$1,330 and has been transferred to NARA.

On October 18, 2024, Modi presented ‘cuff-links’, estimated to be worth US$585.65, to Harris’s husband Douglas Emhoff. These were also transferred to NARA. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh had presented the ‘Shiva Nataraja Bronze Statue’ to the then US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on November 24, 2022, which is estimated to be worth US $ 3,700 and is pending transfer to the General Services Administration (GSA).