The menu was all Indian and mostly vegetarian except prawns because Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India is a vegetarian and only tastes fish once in a blue moon. The hand of the First Lady Michelle Obama was discernible from the the very beginning. The flower decoration was just superb.

All said and done, the banquet was bound to succeed because the hosts had paid personal attention to every aspect. By the way, it was the Third State banquet in honour of the Prime Ministers of India. The first was hosted by President Clinton for Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, the second by President Bush for Dr Manmohan Singh and the third by President Obama again for PM Manmohan Singh and Gursharan Kaur.