New Delhi, Jan 26 (IANS) US President Barack Obama accompanied by his wife Michelle were the star guests at President Pranab Mukherjee's traditional At Home reception on the manicured lawns of Rashtrapati Bhavan here Monday, an event that was briefer than usual and saw a much-trimmed guest list than before.
Amid stricter than usual security, with security personnel firmly keeping invited guests from pushing at the ribbon-barricade dividing them from the VVIPs, the US president and his wife mingled with the members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government and also with former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Obama and Michelle, who attended the two-hour-long Republic Day celebrations earlier in the day, made it a point to shake hands and greet the members of the National Democratic Alliance government who turned up for the At Home.
They included External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani and Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore among others.
While Obama was dressed in a formal dark suit, Michelle was wearing an off-white smart dress with small floral prints.
Modi was attired in a cream-coloured churidar-kurta, matched with a dark orange sleeveless jacket and a cream coloured shawl thrown across his shoulders.
The At Home this year lasted around 35-40 minutes, shorter than the one-hour event it usually is.
The reason: both Modi and Obama had to rush to the Taj Palace Hotel to attend two back-to-back business events with top CEOs from both India and the US in attendance held in the evening.
Both Modi and Obama were to address the India-US CEOs Forum and an Indo-US Business Summit.
There were around 1,400 guests this time, according to the president's press secretary Venu Rajamony. Previous At Home events have seen 2,000-plus guests in attendance.
After meeting the ministers, Obama took a turn towards the invited gathering comprising envoys, diplomats, top government officials and cultural aficionados.
It looked for a moment as though he was about to go forward and meet the eagerly waiting guests, but the US president waved back and went back to his seat, as did his wife Michelle.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, dressed smartly in a black sari with a red border with a black coat to match, stood out with her quiet elegance.
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur were also there.
Both Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh had met Obama before the At Home.
The event was telecast live for the first time.
In his first address to the 18th Lok Sabha after Om Birla was elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha, P
Borders sealed for R-Day in northern West Bengal
Siliguri, Jan 25 (IANS) Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place across northern
On the one hand, while the people of the country have gotten relief on the retail inflation front
The war between Russia-Ukraine continues, no final result of the 93-day-long battle is visible ye
Gmail Emails Going to Spam? Fix the Problem in Minutes with These Simple Tricks
Missing important emails because they keep landing in the Spam folder? Whether it's a job offer,
On the one hand, where the stock market has been bullish for two consecutive days after a fall of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi honored famous young personalities with the National Creators Award
Modi writes to Japanese PM condemning killings
New Delhi, Feb 2 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday wrote to his Japanese counterpart S
In the 64th match of IPL 2024, Delhi Capitals defeated Lucknow Super Giants by 19 runs. Rajasthan
Leaders wear ISslamic Skull Caps only for Show: Heptullah
Patna, Jan 22 (IANS) Union Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptuallah Thursday criticised forme
