TOI correspondent from Washington: It isn’t exactly the Kohinoor that was spirited out of India to eventually adorn the British monarch’s crown, but New Delhi gifted to US First Lady Jill Biden the single most expensive present, a $20,000 diamond, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the White House in 2023.
According to an annual accounting of gifts received by US officials from foreign officials released by the state department on Thursday, Modi also gave President Biden a carved sandalwood box, a statue, an oil lamp, and a book titled” The Ten Principal Upanishads,” all valued at$ 6, 232.
In all, New Delhi provided US officials with products for about$ 35, 000, which is chump change in the grand scheme of things, but enough to cause Modi critics to start complaining about using taxpayer funds and forcing Biden’s rivals to criticize the White House for accepting the products.
The government’s declaration of gifts during formal visits is the rule and rarely receives much censure or attention in comparison. However, such declarations pass largely unnoticed despite offering some insight into the taste and foresight that goes into the gift’s selection.
In this case, the US registration identifies New Delhi’s present to Jill Biden as a 7.5 Carat Lab Diamond, which was “retained for formal use in the East Wing”. These diamonds are created deliberately in a laboratory in a way that resembles the creation of healthy diamonds, and they are increasingly replacing them in the market. After the Salient leave the White House, the First Lady’s company announced that the diamond would be turned over to the files.
Additionally, Modi gave products for$ 125 each to Republican Senator Mitch McConnell and Democrat Charles Schumer, as well as to their US rivals.
Although recipients of gifts can typically be purchased at market value, they are typically transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration ( NARA ), in the same way that gifts to Indian officials and leaders are deposited in what is known as” Toshakhana,” a Persian word for treasury archives that is still in New Delhi.
Although it is not difficult to tell who or what country is giving it, the American method does not. For example, Sunjay Sudhir, India’s adviser to the UAE, received a Giuliano Mazzuoli Firenze Limited Edition wristwatch in July of that year.
Additionally, Prime Minister Modi sent the Toshakhana a number of gifts, including a six-piece set of gold, silver, and enamel tea sets made in the Kubachi Art Factory in Dagestan, Russia, to the country for more than$ 10,000.
Biden also received a number of valuable gifts, 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 the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Biden was also given a$ 500 carpet by Pakistan’s prime minister Shahbaz Sharif.
According to the state agency’s company of process, which compiled the list to get published in the Federal Register, US intelligence officials reported receiving gifts of watches, fragrance and jewelry, almost all of which were destroyed. A$ 11,000 Omega watch was also included in the list, which was obtained by CIA Director William Burns from a secretive foreign source.
