Clinton, Vajpayee exchange gifts

Clinton, Vajpayee exchange gifts
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

WASHINGTON, SEPT 18: Before leaving the glittering banquet hosted by US President Bill Clinton and the First Lady Hillary Clinton, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee presented them with a glass sculpture of Ganesha, the mighty remover of obstacles and heralder of prosperity.

It was titled "Revered Image in Glass," and was by artist Anjolie Ela Menon, described by a White House press release as "one of the foremost artists of our time."

It is part of a special series. The form of Ganesha, it noted, was an artist's delight and was used extensively in Indian art.

The hosts' gift to Vajpayee was a Tiffany's hand-crafted sterling silver cache pot with an engraved inscription. It features an etched border design inspired by a cornice found in the President's Oval Office and an etched floral design taken from the green and red rooms of the White House.

The flower in the centre is a dogwood blossom, a tree found in the President's home state of Arkansas and other states. The Presidential seal is engraved at the bottom of the Tiffany silver piece. The cache pot was designed exclusively as a gift for President Clinton to present on the occasion of an official visit. Every American President has had a signature gift to give during his tenure.

The official gift for members of the Indian delegation was a gray hawn watercolour portrait with an inscription commemorating the official visit of the Indian premier to Washington.