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Highlights of Prime Minister Vajpayee’s visit to Washington, DC

September 14, 2000

¢ Meeting with Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois), Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives at the
U.S. Capitol.

¢ Prime Minister Vajpayee addressed the Joint Session of Congress of the United States. The
Prime Minister was the only foreign leader to do so during 106th session of the U.S. Congress.

e Separate meetings with U.S. House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Missouri), Chairman
Jesse Helms (R-North Carolina) and Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
Chairman Benjamin Gilman (R-New York) and Members of the House Committee on Inter-
national Relations at the U.S. Capitol.

¢ Luncheon hosted by Chairman Gary Ackerman (D-New York), Co-Chairman Jim Greenwood
(R-Pennsylvania) and the Congressional Caucus on India, Cannon House Office Building.

¢ Meeting with representatives of think tanks and academic institutions.

September 15, 2000

e Prime Minister Vajpayee’s arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House.

¢ Welcoming Prime Minister Vajpayee, President Clinton said that India and the United States
have forged a common bond arising from our common commitment to freedom and democ-
racy. While thanking President Clinton for the warm welcome accorded to him, the Prime
Minister stressed the importance of the continuing multifaceted dialogue between the two
democracies.

¢ Meeting with Vice President Gore and a Luncheon hosted by Vice President Gore, in honor
of Prime Minister Vajpayee at the Department of State.

e Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), Chairman of Senate Asia and Pacific Sub-Committee
called on the Prime Minister.

e Prime Minister Vajpayee addressed the U.S.-India business summit hosted by the National
Association of Manufacturers and Confederation of Indian Industry.

September 16, 2000

e Prime Minister Vajpayee dedicated the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial in the distinguished
presence of President Clinton on federal landin front of the Embassy of India. At the
ceremony, President Clinton said that no other country has been more influenced by India
than the United States and added that he learned about Gandhi at 17 or 18 through Martin
Luther King’s writings about nonviolent resistance. The dedication took place less than two
years after the passage of the Act of Congress in October 1998, the shortest period for any
such memorial in Washington, DC.

e Ambassador Naresh Chandra hosted a luncheon reception in honor of Prime Minister Vajpayee
at the Omni Shoreham Hotel for more than 800 guests.

e Prime Minister Vajpayee met with a group of Indian American entrepreneurs including many
from the Silicon Valley and assured them that India would assist them in every possible way
in their desire to contribute to India’s rapid and all-round development.

e Prime Minister Vajpayee addressed members of the Indian-American community at a function
organized in his honor by them at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC

September 17, 2000

e President and Mrs. Clinton hosted a State banquet at the White House in honor of Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. This was the largest such event during the Clinton administra-
tion and more than 700 distinguished guests from diverse varied backgrounds were present.

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