Who accompanied Prime Minister Narendra D Modi to his Thursday meeting with US President Donald J Trump in the Oval Office, and who did POTUS bring along?
IMAGE: On Prime Minister Modi's right are External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, National Security Adviser Ajit Kumar Doval and India's Ambassador the United States Vinay Mohan Kwatra who served as India's foreign secretary before he retired from the IFS and was assigned to Washington.
Modi values the EAM and NSA's counsel, but Ambassador Kwatra has been a PM favourite since he served as joint secretary in the first Modi PMO, often translating for then newbie prime minister.
On President Trump's left are the permanent-frown-on-brow US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.
Rubio was the senior US senator from Florida before Trump picked him to be America's top diplomat.
Before he was elected governor of North Dakota in 2016, Burgum was a software entrepreneur who sold his company Great Plains Software to Microsoft in 2004 for a billion bucks.
The gent standing on the right trying to adjust something on the table is retired Colonel Mike Waltz, Trump's NSA.
And you can get a peek of Elon Musk's head behind the cluster of boom mikes. Photographs: ANI Photo
Modi values the EAM and NSA's counsel, but Ambassador Kwatra has been a PM favourite since he served as joint secretary in the first Modi PMO, often translating for then newbie prime minister.
On President Trump's left are the permanent-frown-on-brow US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.
Rubio was the senior US senator from Florida before Trump picked him to be America's top diplomat.
Before he was elected governor of North Dakota in 2016, Burgum was a software entrepreneur who sold his company Great Plains Software to Microsoft in 2004 for a billion bucks.
The gent standing on the right trying to adjust something on the table is retired Colonel Mike Waltz, Trump's NSA.
And you can get a peek of Elon Musk's head behind the cluster of boom mikes. Photographs: ANI Photo
IMAGE: The third gent sitting on the couch is US Energy Secretary Chris Williams, the former oil industry executive who will implement Trump's 'drill baby drill' firman.
Williams' place on the couch one can understand since Trump wants India to buy more US oil. Rubio's presence is a given since the India-US diplomatic and security relationship is always on the table, but Burgum's central spot is a puzzle.
One would assume that the secretary of the interior is akin to our home minister, but no. That's the secretary of homeland security's job (Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota, is the lady in charge).
The secretary of the interior is responsible for the management and conservation of federal lands and natural resources, so none of which remotely affect India, so what was Burgum doing at the meeting?
Trump is said to be so impressed with Burgum that the North Dakota governor was his choice as vice president till his eldest son Donald Trump Jr argued that J D Vance would be a better electable option, someone who would appeal to a younger demographic.
Trump clearly values Burgum's advice and if the interior secretary's body language offered any clue, he clearly liked Modiji.
Williams' place on the couch one can understand since Trump wants India to buy more US oil. Rubio's presence is a given since the India-US diplomatic and security relationship is always on the table, but Burgum's central spot is a puzzle.
One would assume that the secretary of the interior is akin to our home minister, but no. That's the secretary of homeland security's job (Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota, is the lady in charge).
The secretary of the interior is responsible for the management and conservation of federal lands and natural resources, so none of which remotely affect India, so what was Burgum doing at the meeting?
Trump is said to be so impressed with Burgum that the North Dakota governor was his choice as vice president till his eldest son Donald Trump Jr argued that J D Vance would be a better electable option, someone who would appeal to a younger demographic.
Trump clearly values Burgum's advice and if the interior secretary's body language offered any clue, he clearly liked Modiji.
IMAGE: What was Elon Musk doing at the meeting?
DOGE, his agency to slash US government expense, has nothing to do with India, so what was the richest man on the planet hanging around on the rim of the meeting?
As Maureen Dowd noted in her New York Times column on Sunday: 'After Elon met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India on Thursday, Trump admitted that he wasn't sure if Musk was there as a representative of the US government or as an American CEO. "I don't know," he said. "They met, and I assume he wants to do business in India".'
The bearded, bald, gent should have been on the couch really since trade is the flavour of the year for Trump.
That's Howard Lutnick, the US secretary for commerce and the man who will negotiate the expected trade deal with India with our Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
Lutnick was former CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost 658 employees in the North Tower of the World Trade Center on 9/11, the most any single organisation lost in the terror attack.
The other bald gent on the right of the picture is Stephen Miller, the policy wonk who always has Trump's ear.
Designated deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security advisor, Miller is the most anti-immigration voice in the White House.
DOGE, his agency to slash US government expense, has nothing to do with India, so what was the richest man on the planet hanging around on the rim of the meeting?
As Maureen Dowd noted in her New York Times column on Sunday: 'After Elon met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India on Thursday, Trump admitted that he wasn't sure if Musk was there as a representative of the US government or as an American CEO. "I don't know," he said. "They met, and I assume he wants to do business in India".'
The bearded, bald, gent should have been on the couch really since trade is the flavour of the year for Trump.
That's Howard Lutnick, the US secretary for commerce and the man who will negotiate the expected trade deal with India with our Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
Lutnick was former CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost 658 employees in the North Tower of the World Trade Center on 9/11, the most any single organisation lost in the terror attack.
The other bald gent on the right of the picture is Stephen Miller, the policy wonk who always has Trump's ear.
Designated deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security advisor, Miller is the most anti-immigration voice in the White House.
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