Modi gifts shawls, Lincoln stamp to Trump, Melania

Washington: Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump a range of gifts, including a handcrafted Himachali silver bracelet, tea and honey from Kangra Valley and hand-woven shawls from Jammu and Kashmir.

During his maiden face-to-face meeting with Mr Trump, Mr Modi gifted a folio containing the 1965-dated original commemorative postal stamp, issued to mark the death centenary of Abraham Lincoln. “The stamp honoured the memory of a great American President and the symbolised closeness of ideals” Mr Lincoln and Mahatma Gandhi believed in, the Prime Minister’s Office posted on Twitter.

“For @FLOTUS, PM presented a hamper containing a traditional, handcrafted Himachali silver bracelet, tea and honey from Kangra valley,” it said.     “Hand-woven shawls from Jammu and Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh were also presented to @FLOTUS,” it said.

Later Mr Trump gave Mr Modi a guided tour of the President’s residence quarters in White House, including the Lincoln bedroom, and showed him a copy of Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg address and the desk on which he wrote it.

Mr Modi, who met Trump for the first time after the latter took office earlier this year, held extensive bilateral talks with the US officials focusing on terrorism, trade, energy, and defence. The two-day trip included a ‘working dinner’ at the White House, meeting with US CEOs and an address to the Indian community in Washington.