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.
The biggest online shopping fair of the year is about to start on Amazon and Flipkart. Amazon has
'Even Trump's tariff attack cannot stop India's speed', an American agency gives a surprising reason
US President Donald Trump has imposed heavy tariffs on Indian imports. After this, Indian exporte
The shooting of Drishyam 2 with Ajay Devgn has begun in Mumbai and will be shot extensively in Go
Gautam Adani, who is included in the list of the world's richest businessmen, is also not far beh
Bangladesh Unrest: BNP leader shot dead, pre-election violence continues unabated in Bangladesh.
Pre-election political violence continues in Bangladesh following the murder of youth leader Usma
Now only a few hours are left for the opening match of IPL 2024 to start. The first match of the
The mega auction of players for IPL 2025 is over. As expected, this time all the previous records
Yashasvi Jaiswal is in a lot of discussions these days. He is in the dock after Team India's defe
Bedi apologises after BJP loss
New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) BJP's chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi Tuesday apologised to BJP
Australia pacer Cummins in doubt for Afghanistan encounter
Perth, March 2 (IANS) Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins is in doubt for Wednesday’s Worl
