PM Modi’s US visit: What is a state dinner, which he will attend at the White House?

State visits are the highest-ranked category of foreign visits to the US, where the head of a state visits the US on the formal invitation of the US President. Before Modi, the only two state visits under President Joe Biden have been by France’s President Emmanuel Macron and South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol. Invitation for a state visit signifies that the US considers the guest nation an important friend and ally.

A state dinner is a crucial part of such a visit. The other key events that mark a state visit include a 21-gun salute White House arrival ceremony and an invitation to stay at the Blair House (the US President’s guesthouse across Pennsylvania Avenue). Read our comprehensive explainer on a state visit here.

US President John F Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy host a State Dinner at the White House in honor of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi on November 7, 1961. (Photo: John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum/NARA, via WHHA)

What is a state dinner?

The state dinner is held at the White House, the residence of the US President, and has the symbolic value of a visiting dignitary sharing a meal at the host’s home.

According to the website of the White House History Association (WHHA), “A state dinner honoring a visiting head of government or reigning monarch is one of the grandest and most glamorous of White House affairs. It is part of an official state visit and provides the president and first lady the opportunity to honor the visiting head of state and his or her spouse. It is a courtesy, an expression of good will, and a way of extending hospitality. It brings to mind the tradition of breaking bread with friends to seal a friendship.”

US President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillay Clinton with PM Atal Bhari Vajpayee at the state dinner on the South Lawn of the White House on September 17, 2000. (Photo: William J Clinton Presidential Library via WHHA)

The history of the state visit goes back to the early 1800s, when the US President would host members of his Cabinet, Congress, and other senior officials. Over the years, state dinners came to refer to the White House hosting a foreign dignitary. The first foreign head of government to attend at state dinner at the White House was King Kalakaua of Hawaii, hosted by President Ulysses Grant and First Lady Julia Grant on December 22, 1874, the WHHA website says.

Who plans the state dinner, and how?

“To this day, presidents and first ladies continue to set the tone of their administration’s entertainment. The first lady and her staff are responsible for the elaborate planning and attention behind the glitter and ceremony of the state dinner. These formal dinners involve the creation of invitations and guest lists, menus, flowers, table settings, seating arrangements, and entertainment for the evening,” the WHHA website says.

President George Bush and his wife Laura Bush with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur at the base of the Grand Staircase of the White House on July 18, 2005. (Photo: George W Bush Presidential Library via WHHA)

The State Dining Room can seat 120 people, and usually, several round tables are preferred to sidestep the tricky seating protocol of one long table. Larger events can be held on the White House lawns.

For the menu, special attention is paid to the dietary preferences and religious beliefs of the visiting dignitary.

For instance, when Israel PM Menachem Begin visited on April 15, 1980, a rabbi supervised the food being prepared. Roland Mesnier, the then White House pastry chef, is quoted as saying on the WHHA website, “The dinner was to be kosher and dairy-free, including my dessert… since my ice cream machine had churned many batches of dairy-rich ice cream and couldn’t be boiled or cleansed with the torch, the rabbi insisted that I make the sorbet—just orange juice and sugar—in a brand-new machine. I knew from a friend that Jean-Louis, a restaurant at the Watergate Hotel, had just unpacked a new ice cream freezer and hadn’t yet used it, so I high-tailed it over there to make my sorbet, packed it in ice, and rushed back to the White House.”

What is being planned for Modi’s dinner?

While not all the details are known yet, CNN reported that since PM Modi is vegetarian, “Nina Curtis, a plant-based chef from Sacramento, California, will be the dinner’s guest chef, working with White House Executive Chef Cris Comerford, and White House Executive Pastry Chef Susie Morrison to develop the menu”.

Joshua Bell, Grammy-winning violinist and conductor, will provide the entertainment for the evening, CNN reported.

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When PM Modi had visited the White House under President Barack Obama, he had had nothing but warm water, as he was fasting for Navrati.