Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was not then US President Barack Obama's first and automatic choice for his presidency's first state guest. Singh became one by a "process of elimination", according to a former official of the Obama administration, who did not wish to be identified.
For example, Indian-American yoga teacher Bikram Choudhury had sued an organisation that he claimed had violated his copyright on yoga practices. But the US federal courts threw out his case.
A mosaic of races and nationalities covered the green of the UN lawn speckled with yellow yoga mats. As one, they went through an array of simple yoga exercises focused on breathing and relaxation.
Hollywood actor Richard Gere and the President of United Nations General Assembly, Csaba Korosi, were among some of the prominent personalities who joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a yoga session at the UN headquarters in New York to mark International Day of Yoga on Wednesday.
After meeting Nicholas Nassim Talib, the thinker who is known for explaining how quirks of history impact mankind, Modi tweeted that he "has interesting perspectives on many issues and I had the opportunity to hear them on some of those subjects".
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in the US on a three-day state visit, and said that he is a fan of Modi and plans to visit the country next year.
He was welcomed at the airport by Ruchira Kamboj, India's Permanent Representative to the UN, and Taranjit Singh Sandhu, India's Ambassador to the US, and by a crowd of supporters.
More than 70 Democratic members of the US Congress on Tuesday urged President Joe Biden in a joint letter to raise "areas of concern" in his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Before leaving for the US, Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi said, "I am confident that my visit to the US will reinforce our ties based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. Together we stand stronger in meeting the shared global challenges."
US President Joe Bidens son Hunter Biden will plead guilty to two minor charges related to tax evasion and admit to the facts of a gun charge, an agreement he has reached with the Department of Justice.
The targeted killing of pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the president of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara who was shot dead in Surrey, British Columbia, has thrown up many tricky questions for Canadian security agencies.
"When it comes to combatting terrorism, we must stand as one against this global threat," he said on Monday at the High-Level Conference of Heads of Counter-Terrorism Agencies that is at the core of week-long programmes.
There is great enthusiasm among diplomats from around the world and UN officials for the International Day of Yoga celebrations to be led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, according to India's Permanent Representative to UN, Ruchira Kamboj.
UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi is looking forward to celebrating the 9th International Day of Yoga with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the world body's headquarters in New York on June 21 as the latter will begin his visit to the US.
India's Permanent Representative Ruchira Kamboj has offered Pakistan the "utmost sympathy" for what she described as its mindset of ignorance and inability to comprehend the culture of peace.
India's Permanent Representative Ruchira Kamboj said on Wednesday that India was deeply concerned over "the growing increase in attacks on religious places, including churches, gurdwaras, monasteries, mosques, temples, synagogues and other religious sites".
The world organisation's members have unanimously backed India's efforts to honour with a monument the more than 4,300 Blue Helmets who made the supreme sacrifice in the cause of peace.
India has been concerned about what it has described as the exclusion of non-Abrahamic religions in formal statements and resolutions at the UN about bigotry and anti-religious violence.
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming state visit later this month, a bipartisan duo of senior US Senators known to be longtime friends of India have expressed disappointment that India "took a pass" on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and did not take a position behoving a major power.
This was the first time in US history that a former President is facing federal crime charges. He was charged in April in a case brought against him by New York state for payment of hush money to an adult film star who has claimed to have had an affair with Trump in 2005.
US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on Tuesday said the upcoming state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will give the two countries an opportunity to elevate their focus on commercial and strategic technology partnership in defense, clean energy, and medical supply chain.
The US has a "significant" defence partnership with India and "terrific cooperation" inside the Quad, the White House said ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit beginning June 22.
Blinken has inserted a new phrase into the narrative around the India-US relationship whose limits have been defined by New Delhi's pursuit of strategic autonomy, which is a foreign policy construct deployed by India to choose friends without committing itself to anything serious.
"The evolving US proposal, which is expected to include the addition of up to six permanent seats to the Council without granting those nations veto power," The Washington Post reported on Monday.
Ajay Banga, the World Bank's new President, called for the private sector to play a larger role to help emerging countries in their battle against climate change in his first interviews on Sunday.
