'I should take your autograph...': US President Joe Biden to PM Modi

On Saturday, US President Joe Biden asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his autograph after discovering how he has been managing large crowds, sources told India Today.

When Biden walked up to PM Modi during the Quad meeting, one of the points he made was the large number of requests he was getting from prominent citizens to attend the Indian leader's programmes during his next month state visit to Washington DC, officials said on Sunday.

During the Quad meeting in Japan's Hiroshima, President Joe Biden came up to PM Modi and said that he’s been facing a challenge with a deluge of requests from prominent citizens to attend the program of PM Modi, ANI reported.

Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who was also present, added that there is a capacity of 20,000 for the community reception in Sydney but he is still not able to manage the requests he is getting.

Both President Biden and PM Albanese complained to PM Modi about their peculiar challenges.

PM Albanese then remembered how more than 90,000 people welcomed PM Modi during the victory lap at the Narendra Modi stadium.

To this, Joe Biden told PM Modi, “I should take your autograph.”

PM Modi arrived in Hiroshima on Friday to attend three sessions at the G7 summit following an invitation by Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida. The group of seven, comprising the US, France, the UK, Italy, Germany, Canada and Japan, represent the world's richest democracies. Under its G7 presidency, Japan invited India and seven other countries to the summit as guests.

During his stay in Japan, PM Modi met several world leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese counterpart Kishida, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and British Premier Rishi Sunak.

Modi along with US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese also attended the third in-person Quad Summit.

Modi also offered to host the next Quad Leaders' Summit in India in 2024, PTI reported.

(With inputs from Anjana Om Kashyap)

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