Modi-gifted diamond makes the cut as Jill Biden’s priciest present
A $20,000 diamond presented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to US First Lady Jill Biden was the most expensive gift given by any world leader to the Biden family in 2023, the US State Department has said here.
The 7.5 carat eco-friendly, lab-grown diamond was gifted by Modi in June 2023 at a private dinner at the White House during his state visit on an invitation by President Joe Biden. According to the exchange rate then, the diamond’s cost was about Rs 16 lakh.
Modi gifted Biden a carved sandalwood box, a book titled “The Ten Principal Upanishads”, a statue and an oil lamp, valued together at an estimated $6,232.
While President Biden’s gifts have been transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the First Lady’s diamond has been retained “for official use in the East Wing”, said the annual accounting published by the State Department on Thursday.
The 7.5 carat diamond was manufactured in a factory in Gujarat’s Surat by using a technology which recreates the same process that takes place beneath the earth in formation of the natural diamonds, according to Smit Patel, convener of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council.
“The diamond (gifted by PM) is 7.5 carat, which represents the 75 years of Independence. It was created using green energy, so that is also a step towards showing that India is moving towards green and renewable energy — a goal espoused by PM Modi himself,” Patel had said in 2023.
Earlier in November 2022, Modi had gifted a painting valued at $1,000 to Biden, the US State Department records show. The First Lady’s second costliest gift was a $14,063 “steel fragment forget-me-not flower brooch” from Oksana Markarova, Ambassador of Ukraine to the US, in July 2023.
The US President also received a number of expensive presents, including a commemorative photo album valued at $7,100 from South Korea’s recently impeached President Suk Yeol Yoon.
