Jill Biden is taking Indian Prime Minister Modi on side trip before Thursday's White House visit
Jill Biden is taking Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a side trip before his state visit and fancy state dinner Thursday at the White House
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden is taking Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a side trip to Virginia on Wednesday, a day before his formal state visit and fancy dinner at the White House.
President Joe Biden, who invited Modi on a state visit, has spent the past two days in California raising money for his reelection campaign and was due back in Washington later Wednesday.
In a warmup of sorts to Thursday, the first lady arranged a visit Wednesday to the National Science Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia, for an event highlighting workforce training programs for Modi, who leads one of the world's largest democracies with an estimated 1.4 billion people. She typically takes the spouse of a visiting leader on an outing in the Washington area, but Modi was traveling alone.
Afterward, the first lady was returning to the White House to unveil the decor and menu for Thursday's state dinner, which is being held in a temporary pavilion erected on the South Grounds of the White House. She enlisted help from a guest chef, Nina Curtis, who specializes in plant-based cooking, to work on the three dinner courses with the White House kitchen staff. Modi is a vegetarian.
Violinist Joshua Bell will entertain guests after dinner.
Jill Biden is a career community college teacher who has taken on a big role in helping her husband's administration promote “career-connected” learning as an alternative to four years of college.
At the science foundation, the first lady and Modi will also meet students from the U.S. and India, and participate in a moderated conversation.