Prime Minister Manmohan Singh July 18 was accorded a warm, and ceremonial, reception on the White House lawns by US President George Bush. It was the first time in the second Bush Administration that a visiting dignitary was being given a State reception.
The prime minister was given a 21-gun salute with the strains of the Indian national anthem playing in the background.
US President George W Bush and first lady Laura Bush welcome Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, July 18.
Photograph: AP Photo/Charles Dharapak