Modi gifts Biden documents to help him find out if he has relatives in India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday presented to the United States President Joe Biden some documents, which might help the “Leader of the Free World” find out once and for all if he really had relatives in India.

“You have talked today spoken in detail about the Biden surname in India and in fact you had mentioned that to me earlier too. Well, after you mentioned that to me, I looked for documents,” Modi told Biden as the two leaders met at the Oval Office in the White House on Friday.

“Today, I have brought along a set of documents, maybe we'll be able to take this matter forward, and maybe those documents could be of use to you.”

Biden smiled and asked Modi if he was “related” to anyone in India.

“Yes,” Modi replied.

Also read: PM Modi holds first bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden

Biden was born at Scranton in Pennsylvania in the US in 1942. But after he was elected as a Senator from Delaware in the 1970s, he had received a letter from Leslie Biden, who lived in Nagpur in Maharashtra, suggesting that they had common ancestors.

Biden, who took over as the 46th US President on January 20 this year, had spoken repeatedly in the past about the letter he had received from Leslie Biden. He had referred to the letter during a visit to Mumbai in 2013 as the Vice President in President Barack Obama’s administration. He also referred to “five Bidens” in India during an event in the US capital in 2015.

He also referred to the story of “Bidens in India” while playing host to the Prime Minister at the White House on Friday.

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