{"id":27618,"date":"2014-10-02T11:17:40","date_gmt":"2014-10-02T03:17:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=27618"},"modified":"2014-10-02T10:07:13","modified_gmt":"2014-10-02T02:07:13","slug":"whats-on-the-white-house-menu-for-world-leader-whos-fasting-warm-water-and-hospitality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/10\/02\/whats-on-the-white-house-menu-for-world-leader-whos-fasting-warm-water-and-hospitality\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s on the White House menu for world leader who\u2019s fasting? Warm water and hospitality"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"White<\/a>
White House photo by Paul Morse.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WASHINGTON\u2014What do you serve a man who isn\u2019t eating?<\/p>\n

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was served warm water and an empty plate as the guest of honour at a White House dinner Monday night and again at a State Department luncheon Tuesday.<\/p>\n

It may seem odd to serve a dinner of crisped halibut with ginger carrot sauce to welcome a man who\u2019s in the midst of a nine-day religious fast. People experienced in diplomatic protocol say such a circumstance is indeed rare\u2014yet perfectly appropriate, so long as the visiting leader is pleased to sit and sip water while others dine.<\/p>\n

Most would covet the invitation, said Anita McBride, who served as chief of staff to first lady Laura Bush.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a level of respect and honour to host a foreign visitor in your home, in the White House,\u201d McBride said. \u201cEvery single one of these leaders wants to be able to go back home and say the president of the United States hosted me in the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prime minister of India observes an annual fast dedicated to the Hindu goddess Durga, consuming only water or lemon-water for nine days. Modi says he\u2019s been doing that more than 35 years. This time coincided with his first visit to Washington as prime minister. The State Department\u2019s protocol office worked with the Indian Embassy to arrange suitable events and menus.<\/p>\n

Attending dinners while fasting isn\u2019t a problem, said Syed Akbaruddin, a spokesman for the Indian government, said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Modi\u2019s only request is a glass of warm water, Akbuarddin said, and he insists that other guests should \u201cplease enjoy the feast that has been laid out by gracious hosts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ann Stock, who served as President Bill Clinton\u2019s social secretary, said even such small, working White House dinners for world leaders are meticulously planned weeks or months ahead of time to ensure the comfort of the guest and host. Dietary issues are just the start.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t put together five flowers in a vase if five is a number that\u2019s unlucky in that country,\u201d Stock said.<\/p>\n

What about guests chowing down near Modi? Some Americans might feel awkward.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever I\u2019ve been in meetings with people who are fasting, I\u2019ve refrained from food or drink,\u201d said Jonah Blank, who served 12 years as\u00a0South Asia\u00a0policy director for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But that\u2019s not an etiquette requirement, he said.<\/p>\n

Indeed, members of Modi\u2019s delegation ate the meals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn India there are so many different communities with so many different dietary practices and restrictions, there is a lot more leeway for serving something that is going to be generally agreeable and accepting that some people will choose to refrain,\u201d he said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t provoke surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vice-President Joe Biden got the issue out on the table before Tuesday\u2019s luncheon of eggplant and sweet potato lasagna prepared by noted Indian-American chef Vikram Sunderam.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prime minister is fasting and we keep taking him to lunches and dinners,\u201d Biden joked. \u201cAnd we Catholics would say that\u2019s an occasion for sin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Stacy A. Anderson and Matthew Lee in Washington and Muneeza Naqvi in New Delhi contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON\u2014What do you serve a man who isn\u2019t eating? Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was served warm water and an …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":27619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69,7265],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-food","category-news-weird","mauthors-connie-cass","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}