THERE was a keen interest in President Barack Obama’s first state dinner among Guyanese Americans signalling the importance of America’s new relationship with India. The excitement among Guyanese centred around Obama, as well as his guest, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh whom Guyanese had met in New York (NY) in previous trips to lobby him for increased financial assistance for Guyana. So it was not unusual that Guyanese are a keen follower of Manmohan’s visit to America.

Several Guyanese phoned me last Tuesday evening to tune into the proceedings which were being broadcast live on national TV because I had not expected it to be live on TV. They were quite excited to see Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on TV and moreso with his being the first guest for Obama’s first state dinner which included almost 400 guests. At the conclusion of the proceedings, there were further phone calls on whether I watched the proceedings (I did only because of the phone calls). Conversations about the state dinner continued the next day at work among colleagues and later in the afternoon on Liberty Avenue where the state dinner was all Guyanese talked about. The dinner was front page news coverage in the major dailies on Tuesday and Wednesday. Guyanese and other Americans were impressed with the speeches of both heads of governments. When I came to Guyana for a few days, people said they also saw the dinner on TV on CNN and were impressed with the remarks of both leaders.

Obama has been in office for ten months and this is only his first state dinner. It was a magnificent affair filled with pomp and ceremony in a glitzy, environmentally friendly surrounding. The dinner signals the importance of the relationship between the U.S. and India and the value of the friendship between Obama and Dr Singh who have met previously at two G-20 meetings. Obama is very impressed with Singh for his economic expertise being a former Professor of Economics at Oxford and Harvard. The state dinner attracted the Who Is Who of America and Indian Americans. Top politicians and celebrities from Hollywood and Bollywood, and media stars such as Sanjay Gupta, Fareed Zakaria, Deepak Chopra, Indra Nooyi, Raju Narisetti, film director M. Night Shyamalan and dozens of Indians who work for Obama at the White House and Indian businessmen who raised tens of millions of dollars for his campaign last year. Black-tie guests mingled with Nehru suits and bright saris and lahengas.

India’s status as President Obama’s first state dinner special guests is due to India’s strategic importance to the United States. The U.S. wants India’s help to fight terror in South Asia. India is also valuable because of the size of its economy – a trillion dollar GDP. Obama called the relationship a “great and growing partnership.” Earlier in the day during the arrival ceremony at the lawns of the White House, Obama spoke of “the enduring bonds shared by the U.S. and India” and looked forward to “continued cooperation”.

Prime Minister Singh returned the praise to Obama. “We are embarking on a new phase of our partnership. We should build on common values and interests to realise the enormous potential and promise of our partnership”.

The menu for the banquet was vegetarian as Manmohan is a pure vegetarian. Indian-themed dancers perform during the entertainment segment of the dinner. A.R. Rahman (of Slumdog Millionaire) also performed along with American artistes.

It was a terrific banquet fit for royalty and given only to those whose friendship the U.S. treasures.
VISHNU BISRAM