'Where the mind is without fear': Biden invokes Tagore in state dinner for Modi
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the US President Joe Biden in White House
The Bidens hosted India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the state dinner in the White House on June 22, in which a roaring democracy-based bilateral convergence of India and the United States was heard in an elite gathering consisting of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani and his wifeNita, Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, Adobe’s CEO Shantanu Narayen and close to 100 well-known public figures.
"You havegathered a group of exceptional people tonight," Modi said while hailing the vital role played by the Indian-Americans in the United States.
"The Indian-Americans have come a long way here," he said.
In a moment of display of bonhomie between Biden and Modi, the latter hailed the US president as a soft-spoken individual who is 'very strong' and has the same commitment as he had a decade ago.
In what emerged as a reminder to South Korean president Yoon Suk-Yeol singing 'American Pie' at White House a month ago, Modi said: "I have seen your hospitality inspired your guests to sing. I wish I could sing then I would have sung for you all."
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'Where the mind is without fear': Joe Biden invokes Rabindranath Tagore
US President Joe Biden, while describing the state dinner as a 'fitting way to celebrate a great bond of friendship between India and the United States', invoked Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore's. The US president said that Tagore's work "inspired great American thought".
"In 1792, the first US president George Washington established the first consulate in Calcutta at the edge of Bay of Bengal. It has more Nobel laureates than any other Indian city, including Rabindranath Tagore who composed the national anthems of two nations, and influenced the great American thought," Biden said, while referring to Tagore's great literary contribution in the modern democratic frameworks of Indian subcontinent, having composed the national anthems of India and Bangladesh.
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Biden then quoted Tagore's 'Where the mind is without fear' poem from the poet's Nobel Prize-winning work Gitanjali, often held as a work of literary heritage that puts the idea of democracy at thecentre-stage with focus on achieving the potential of a nation by realising the potential of an individual.
"India and the United States hear the cry and the call of destiny to take our nations and world forward to a future worthy of our dreams. A future towards greater prosperity, opportunity, liberty, equality and the good of the world — where every person can grasp its fullest potential so that we as nations can achieve our highest purpose," Biden said.
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