From: Lalit K. Jha
Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 10:29 AM
To: Singh, Priya
Subject: Foreign Pool Report — India
Foreign Pool Report
Hi,
I am adding to what the main pool would have written, adding to the color: —
1. A large number of Indian Americans came from various parts of the country to attend the arrival ceremony of the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and his wife, Gursharan Kaur. Indu Jain and Pallav Jain came from New York for the event said they are excited as they are attending a White House event. Saleem Khan drove in from Pittsburgh said this event reflects the coming together of the two great democracies. A little bit emotional, he said, he hopes that India and the US would work together to bring peace in the world.
2. They were part of some 200 invitees comprised of the members of the Congress – those spotted were Joe Wilson, Jim McDermott (known for their pro-India stand in the Congress). These also included about 50 students from Walker Jones Educational Campus and Schools Without Walls. Both are from DC. With India and US flags in his hands Jahleel Marlow, from the Jones school said he has come to see Obama and the Prime Minister (he did not remember the name).
3. From India side included country’s top industrialists – included the Nano man Ratan Tata of the Tata Motors, Sunil Bharati Mittal, Analjit Singh, Preta Reddy (Apollo Hospital_, Chanda Kochchar (ICCICI), Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (Biocon), O P Bhatt (State Bank of India), Ashok Ganguly (former chairman of Hindustan Liver), Krishnan Gopalakrishnan (CEO of Infosys) and Deepak Parekh of HDFC Bank.
4. Among the top India Officials included – the External Affairs Minister, S M Krishna; national Security Advisor, M K Narayanan, Special Envoy on Climate Change, Shyam Saran, Foreign Secretary, Nirupama Rao and the Indian Ambassador, Meera Shankar.
5. The Indian Americans present there waived and greeted Hillary Clinton when she arrived and she responded by doing Namaste (traditional Indian way of greeting with folded hands) to them standing on the other side of the East Room.
Members of the US Welcoming Committee: include The Vice President, Dr. Biden, Secretary Clinton, William J. Lynn, Deputy Secretary of Defense, James E. “Hoss” Cartwright, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Chief of Staff Rahm I. Emanuel, General James L. Jones, Mrr. John Brennan, Mr. Mike Froman, Mr. Anish Goel, Mr. Stuart Seldowitz, Ambassador Roble Olhaye, Ambassador of the Republic of Djibouti and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Under Secretary Maria Otero, Under Secretary Hormats, Ambassador Timothy Roemer, Mayor Adrian Fenty, Mrs. Michelle Fenty, Assistant Secretary Verma, Assistant Secretary Robert Blake, Mr. Alonzo L. Fulgham, City Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, Mrs. Loretta Gray
6. The wife of the Indian Prime Minister, Gursharan Kaur wore a green colour saree (the traditional Indian dress).
—
With warm rgds,
Lalit K Jha,
Principal US Correspondent,
Press Trust of India (PTI) www.pti.in
