White House State dinner in honour of PM Modi: Who were on the guest list?

On the evening of June 22 (June 23 IST), Prime Minister Narendra Modi was warmly welcomed by US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden at the White House, where they hosted a grand State dinner. Approximately 400 distinguished guests were extended invitations to attend this exquisite event. "Welcome to Prime Minister Modi’s Washington home," Biden quipped to laughter and applause as he addressed the guests on the South Lawn of the White House. 

During the State dinner, both the US President and PM Modi shared a toast, which resulted in the Prime Minister bursting into laughter. He expressed his enjoyment of engaging in extensive and diverse discussions but remarked that it felt as though time was slipping away too quickly. The Prime Minister emphasised that the presence of the people from both nations, whom he referred to as their "most precious assets," made the evening truly special. In a light-hearted manner, the Prime Minister joked that Americans now dance to 'Naatu Naatu' while Indians dress up as Spiderman for Halloween.

Biden's hilarious toast to PM Modi

Biden:

Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for your partnership and your friendship.  And to all — to all, please join me in a toast — but I don’t know if we have any glasses.  (Laughter.)
 
Please join me in a toast.  Here it comes.  The good news for both of us: Neither of us drink.  (Laughter.) 
 
(Referring to Prime Minister Modi’s glass.)  That is what?  Ginger ale?  Okay.  (Laughter.)
 
Mr. Prime Minister, I had an Irish grandfather named Ambrose Finnegan.  And he used to say that when you give a toast and you don’t have any alcohol in your glass, you must do it with your left hand.  (Laughter.)  You think I’m kidding?  I’m not.  (Laughter.)  (The interpreter begins providing a translation.)  (Laughter.)  That wasn’t in the script.
 
A toast to our partnership, to our people, to the possibilities that lie ahead, to two great friends, two great nations, and two great powers.  Cheers.
 
(President Biden offers a toast.)
 
The floor is yours.  (Applause.)

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries, and Nita Ambani were among the esteemed attendees at the US State dinner. The guest list further comprised notable individuals such as Indra Nooyi, Anand Mahindra, Nikhil Kamath, Antony Blinken, Shantanu Narayen, Eric Garcetti, Kevin McCarthy, Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, and Gina Raimondo.

A look at the State dinner guest list

The following is a complete list of guests directly taken from a White House press release:

• THE PRESIDENT AND DR. BIDEN
• HIS EXCELLENCY NARENDRA MODI, PRIME MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA
• Ms. Huma Abedin & Ms. Heba Abedin
• Ms. Reem Acra & Dr. Nicolas Tabbal
• The Honorable Mala Adiga, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Policy and Projects for the First Lady & Mr. Charles Bir
• Ms. Revathi Advaithi & Mr. Jeevan Mulgund
• Mr. Salman Ahmed, Director of Policy Planning Staff, U.S. Department of State & Ms. Cat Davis Ahmed
• The Honorable Kiran Ahuja, Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management & Mr. Robert Shriver III, Deputy Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management
• Mr. Sam Altman & Mr. Oliver Mulherin
• Mr. Mukesh Ambani & Ms. Nita Ambani
• The Honorable Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense & Mrs. Charlene Austin
• Mr. Arindam Bagchi, Additional Secretary and Official Spokesperson of the Republic of India
• Ms. Bela Bajaria & Ms. Rekha Bajaria
• Dr. Bharat Barai & Mrs. Panna Barai
• The Honorable John Bass, Undersecretary for Management, U.S. Department of State & Ms. Holly Holzer Bass
• Mr. Josh Bekenstein & Ms. Anita Bekenstein
• Mr. Joshua Bell
• The Honorable Stephen K. Benjamin, Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the President for Public Engagement & Mrs. Seema Shrivastava-Patel
• The Honorable Ami Bera, U.S. Representative & Dr. Janine Vivienne Bera
• The Honorable Anthony Bernal, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the First Lady
• Mr. Hunter Biden & Ms. Melissa Cohen Biden
• Ms. Ashley Biden & Ms. Seema Sadanandan
• Mr. James Biden & Mrs. Sara Biden
• Ms. Naomi Biden Neal & Mr. Peter Neal
• The Honorable Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State & The Honorable Evan Ryan, Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary
• Mr. Linden Prause Blue & Dr. Chollada Blue
• The Honorable Lael Brainard, Assistant to the President and Director of the National Economic Council & The Honorable Kurt Campbell, Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, National Security Council
• The Honorable William Burns, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency & The Honorable Lisa Carty, U.S. Representative to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations
• Dr. Ángel Cabrera & Dr. Beth Cabrera
• Mr. David Calhoun & Mrs. Barbara Calhoun
• Mr. Anthony Capuano
• Mr. Manesh Chandwani & Mrs. Alpana Patel
• Mr. Jagtar Chaudhry
• Mr. Kenneth Chenault & Mrs. Kathryn Chenault
• The Honorable Tarun Chhabra, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Technology and National Security, National Security Council & Dr. Aliza Hapgood Waters
• Ms. Maria Grazia Chiuri & Ms. Karishma Swali
• The Honorable Rohit Chopra, Director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau & Ms. Karen Brudvig
• Mr. Michael Cohen & Dr. Daralyn Samuels
• Mr. Tim Cook & The Honorable Lisa Jackson
• Mr. Jim Crown & Mrs. Paula Crown
• Mr. Larry Culp & Ms. Wendy Culp
• Ms. Stephanie Cutter & Ms. Kellie Meiman Hock
• Mr. Ashraf Mansur Dahod & Dr. Shamim Ashraf Dahod
• Mr. Ronak Desai & Dr. Bansari Shah
• Mr. Darshan Dhaliwal & Mrs. Debra Dhaliwal
• Mr. Gary Dickerson & Mrs. Connie Dickerson
• The Honorable Jen O’Malley Dillon, Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff & Mr. Patrick Dillon
• The Honorable Michael C. Donilon, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the President & Mrs. Patricia Donilon
• Mr. Mark Douglas & Mrs. Madeleine Douglas
• His Excellency Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor of the Republic of India
• The Honorable Jose W. Fernandez, Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, U.S. Department of State & Ms. Andrea Gabor
• The Honorable Jon Finer, Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy National Security Advisor
• Mr. Leonard Forsman & Ms. Jana Rice
• Ms. Jane Fraser & Mr. Alberto Piedra
• Mrs. Adena Friedman & Mr. Mike Friedman
• Mr. Thomas L. Friedman & Mrs. Ann B. Friedman
• The Honorable Michael Froman, President of the Council of Foreign Relations & Ms. Nancy Goodman
• The Honorable Eric Garcetti, Ambassador of the United States to the Republic of India & Mr. Sean Burton
• The Honorable Merrick Garland, Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice & Ms. Lynn Rosenman Garland
• The Honorable Rufus Gifford, Chief of Protocol of the United States
• The Honorable Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Senator & Mr. Jonathan Gillibrand
• Mr. Anand Giridharadas
• The Honorable Philip Gordon, Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor to the Vice President & Mrs. Rachel Gordon
• Mr. Sanjay Govil & Ms. Vidya Govil
• The Honorable Jennifer M. Granholm, Secretary of Energy, U.S. Department of Energy & Ms. Karen Elizabeth Skelton
• Mr. Palash Gupta & Mrs. Khushi Gupta
• The Honorable Vanita Gupta, Associate Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice & Mr. Rajiv Gupta
• The Honorable Geeta Rao Gupta, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, U.S. Department of State & Mr. Arvind Gupta
• The Honorable Rahul Gupta, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy & Dr. Seema Gupta
• The Honorable Isabella Guzman, Administrator of the Small Business Administration & Dr. Javier Guzman
• The Honorable Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence & Mr. David Davighi
• The Honorable Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States & Mr. Douglas Emhoff
• Mr. Roger Hochschild & Mrs. Stephanie Hochschild
• Ms. Kate Hoit & Ms. Julia Tivald
• Mr. David Ignatius & Dr. Eve Ignatius
• Mr. Frank Islam & Ms. Debbie Driesman
• Dr. Irwin Jacobs & The Honorable Sara Jacobs, U.S. Representative
• Mr. Anurag Jain
• His Excellency Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs of the Republic of India
• The Honorable Pramila Jayapal, U.S. Representative & Mr. Steven Williamson
• The Honorable Karine Jean-Pierre, Assistant to the President and Press Secretary
• Mrs. Jo Ann Jenkins & Dr. Francis Jenkins
• Dr. Hiren Joshi, Officer on Special Duty, Republic of India
• Mr. Nikhil Kamath
• Ms. Vrinda Kapoor
• Mr. Vimal Kapur
• Mr. Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. & Mrs. Margaret P. Kelly
• Mr. Maxwell Taylor Kennedy & Mrs. Vicki S. Kennedy
• Mr. Max Kennedy
• Mr. Neeraj Khemlani & Ms. Heather Cabot Khemlani
• The Honorable Ro Khanna, U.S. Representative & Mrs. Ritu Khanna
• Dr. Suresh Khator & Dr. Renu Khator
• Mr. Martin Luther King III & Mrs. Arndrea Waters King
• Ms. Billie Jean King & Ms. Ilana Kloss
• The Honorable Jennifer Klein, Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Gender Policy Council & Mr. Zachary Stern
• The Honorable Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Senator & Mr. John Bessler
• Mr. Edward Knight & Mrs. Amy Shepard Knight
• Rohini Kosoglu & Mr. Ozkan Kosoglu
• Mr. Arvind Krishna & Ms. Tarini Krishna
• The Honorable Raja Krishnamoorthi, U.S. Representative & Dr. Priya Krishnamoorthi
• Ms. Maria Teresa Kumar & Mr. Raj Udiaver Kumar
• Mr. Vivek Kumar, Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of the Republic of India
• His Excellency Vinay Mohan Kwatra, Foreign Secretary of the Republic of India
• The Honorable Ben LaBolt, Assistant to the President and Director of Communications
• The Honorable Mitchell Landrieu, Senior Advisor and Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator & Ms. Emily Landrieu
• Dame Donna Langley DBE & Mr. Ramin Shamshiri
• The Honorable Eileen Laubacher, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for South Asia, National Security Council & Mr. Christopher Laubacher
• Mr. Ralph Lauren & Mrs. Ricky Lauren
• The Honorable Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, U.S. Department of State & Dr. Ariel Ahart
• Mr. Anand Mahindra
• The Honorable Joseph Manchin, U.S. Senator & Mrs. Gayle Manchin
• Dr. Will Marshall & Mr. Robbie Schingler
• Ms. Christina Mather & Ms. Patricia Moynihan
• The Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Homeland Security & Mrs. Tanya Mayorkas
• The Honorable Kevin McCarthy, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives & Ms. Emily Norris McCarthy
• Mr. Doug McMillon & Mrs. Shelley McMillon
• The Honorable Gregory Meeks, U.S. Representative & Mrs. Simone Meeks
• Mr. Sanjay Mehrotra & Mrs. Sangeeta Mehrotra
• The Honorable Robert Menendez, U.S. Senator & Mrs. Nadine Menendez
• Mr. Michael Miebach
• The Honorable Aruna K. Miller, Lieutenant Governor of Maryland & Mr. David Miller
• Dr. Deepak Mittal, Joint Secretary to the Prime Minister of the Republic of India
• Mr. Jon Moeller & Ms. Lisa Sauer
• Mr. John Morgan & Mr. Matt Morgan
• Dr. Denis Mukwege & Ms. Madeleine Kaboyi
• Mr. James Murdoch & Mrs. Kathryn Murdoch
• The Honorable Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General & Dr. Alice Chen
• Mr. Sam Myers & Dr. Vicki Myers
• Mr. Satya Nadella & Mrs. Anu Nadella
• Mr. Shekar Narasimhan & Mrs. Charu Narasimhan
• Mr. Shantanu Narayen & Ms. Reni Narayen
• The Honorable Bill Nelson, Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration & Mrs. Grace Nelson
• Ms. Indra Nooyi & Mr. Raj Nooyi
• The Honorable Victoria Nuland, Under Secretary for Political Affairs, U.S. Department of State & Mr. Drew Nuland
• The Honorable Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director of the U.S. National Science Foundation
• Mr. Maulik Pancholy & Mr. Ryan Corvaia
• Mr. Deven Parekh & Mrs. Monika Parekh
• Ms. Tarini Parti & Mrs. Preeti Part
• Mr. Milan Patel & Mr. Vinod Patel
• Mr. Sameer Patel & Mrs. Shannon Patel
• The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker Emerita of the U.S. House of Representatives & Mr. Paul Pelosi
• Mr. Charles E. Phillips & Mrs. Karen C. Phillips
• The Honorable Jake Phillips, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel to the President and Legal Advisor to the National Security Council & Ms. Sheila Jaya Kadagathur
• Mr. Sundar Pichai & Mrs. Anjali Pichai
• The Honorable John Podesta, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy & Ms. Mae Podesta
• Mr. Robert Pohlad & Mrs. Rebecca Pohlad
• The Honorable Arati Prabhakar, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy & Mr. Patrick Windham
• The Honorable Aftab Pureval, Mayor of Cincinnati & Dr. Whitney Whitis
• The Honorable Michael J. Pyle, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs, National Security Council & Ms. Chloe F. Schama
• The Honorable Natalie Quillian, Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff & Mr. Ryan Quillian
• Mr. James Quincey
• The Honorable Gautam Raghavan, Assistant to the President and Director of Presidential Personnel & Mr. Andrew Masloski
• The Honorable Gina Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce & Mr. Andy Moffit
• Mr. Deepak Raj & Mrs. Neera Raj
• Mr. Sanjay Ramabhadran & Mrs. Vidya Iyer
• Ms. Sripriya Ranganathan, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India
• Mr. M.R. Rangaswami & Ms. Krisanthy Desby
• Ms. Vani Sarraju Rao, Additional Secretary, Americas, Republic of India
• The Honorable Vinay Reddy, Assistant to the President and Director of Speechwriting & Mrs. Neelima Reddy
• The Honorable Bruce Reed, Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff & Ms. Bonnie Lepard
• The Honorable Michael Regan, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Mr. Punit Renjen & Mrs. Heather Renjen
• The Honorable Steve Ricchetti, Assistant to the President and Counselor to the President & Mrs. Amy Ricchetti
• The Honorable Curtis Ried, Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Council  Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary & Mrs. Patsy Ried
• Mr. Chuck Robbins & Mrs. Paige Robbins
• The Honorable Tim Roemer & Mrs. Sally Roeme
• Dr. Christopher Rothko & Ms. Lori Cohen
• Ms. Jeanne Ruesch & Fr. Kevin O’Brien, S.J.
• Mrs. Jennifer Rumsey & Mr. Jim Rumsey
• His Excellency Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Ambassador of the Republic of India to the United States
• Ms. Reshma Saujani & Mr. Mike Saujani
• The Honorable Steve Scalise, U.S. Representative
• Mr. Michael Schrum & Mrs. Maya Rao
• The Honorable Charles E. Schumer, U.S. Senator & Ms. Elizabeth Weiland
• Dr. Sudhir Sekhsaria
• The Honorable Peter Selfridge
• Ms. Smita N. Shah & Mr. Maarten de Jeu
• The Honorable Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, Assistant to the President and Homeland Security Advisor and Deputy National Security Advisor & Dr. Jeffrey Randall
• Mr. Jay Shetty & Mr. Richard Slavin
• Mr. Madhu Shrivastava & Ms. Sulochana Shrivastava
• Mr. M. Night Shyamalan & Dr. Bhavna Shyamala
• Mr. Nat Simons & Mrs. Laura Baxter-Simons
• Ms. Shamina Singh & Ms. Simi Singh Juneja
• Mr. Rajesh Singh, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade of the Republic of India
• Ms. Gwendolyn Sontheim & Dr. Cary Fowler, U.S. Special Envoy for Global Food Security, U.S. Department of State 
• Mr. Aaron Sosnick & Ms. Paige Perrone
• The Honorable Gene Sperling, White House American Rescue Plan Coordinator and Senior Advisor to the President & Mr. Miles French
• The Honorable Sri Srinivasan, Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals & Ms. Chitra Wadhwani
• Dr. Lisa Su & Mr. Daniel Lin
• Mr. Rajesh Subramaniam & Ms. Gina Adams
• The Honorable Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs & Ms. Maggie Goodlander
• Ms. Ellen Susman & Mrs. Whitney Gordon
• The Honorable Katherine Tai, U.S. Trade Representative & Mr. Robert Skidmore
• Mr. Jim Taiclet & Mrs. Carol Taiclet
• The Honorable Neera Tanden, Assistant to the President and Domestic Policy Advisor & Ms. Alina Edwards
• Mr. Hemant Taneja
• The Honorable Louisa Terrell, Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Legislative Affairs & The Honorable Seema Nanda, U.S. Solicitor of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor
• Ms. Nidhi Tewari, Deputy Secretary, Republic of India
• The Honorable Shri Thanedar, U.S. Representative & Mrs. Shashi Thanedar
• The Honorable Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Representative of the United States to the United Nations & Mr. Lafayette Greenfield
• Ms. Mini Timmaraju & Mr. Ken Scudder
• The Honorable Annie Tomasini, Assistant to the President and Director of Oval Office Operations
• Mr. Abeezar Tyebji & Mrs. Paulomi Tyebji
• The Honorable Maju Varghese & Mrs. Julie Varghese
• Mr. Abraham Verghese & Ms. Cari Costanzo
• The Honorable Richard Verma, Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources, U.S. Department of State & Mrs. Melineh Verma
• Dr. Aseem Vohra, Deputy Chief of Protocol of the Republic of India
• The Honorable Lorraine Voles, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the Vice President & Mr. A.J. Smith
• Mr. Sunil Wadhwani & Mrs. Nita Wadhwani
• The Honorable Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota & Mrs. Gwen Walz
• The Honorable Mark Warner, U.S. Senator & Ms. Lisa Collis
• Mr. Casey Wasserman & Ms. Jenny Chandler
• Ms. Anne Wojcicki & Esther Wojcicki
• The Honorable Shalanda Young, Director of the Office of Management and Budget & Ms. Loyce Young-Smith
• The Honorable Ali Zaidi, Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor & Dr. Candace Vahlsing
• The Honorable Uzra Zeya, Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, U.S. Department of State & Mr. Thomas Nemeth
• The Honorable Jeffrey Zients, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the President & Mr. Jonny Zients