All the prime minister's men: The six who accompanied Modi for bilateral talks with Joe Biden

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Joe Biden at the White House o n Friday in his first bilateral meeting with the US president during which the two leaders discussed a wide range of priority issues including combating COVID-19, climate change, economic cooperation as well as Afghanistan. The two leaders spoke for around 19 minutes and shared their views on a wide range of topics. The two also shared jokes about Biden’s possible ties with India and that the Indian press is “much better behaved” than the American press. Speaking at the meet, Modi also thanked Biden for the warm welcome the US president had accorded to the PM’s delegation. Here’s who made up Modi’s delegation at the bilateral meet: S Jaishankar External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was present for the Modi-Biden bilateral meet. Jaishankar has also conducted bilateral and multilateral meetings on the sidelines, including those with his UK counterpart. Ajit Doval Doval, the National Security Advisor, is also a part of Modi’s delegation and was present for the meet with Biden. Doval has emerged as the closest aide of the prime minister. From managing the surgical strikes across the borders in Pakistan, the NSA has been involved in almost each and every national and international operation carried out by the security agencies. Harsh Vardhan Shringla Foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla accompanied Modi for the White House visit. Shringla is Modi’s man in the United States and was among the few to meet top officials of the Biden administration after the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan that brought down curtains on the 20-year-old war. Taranjit Singh Sandhu Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu also attended the meet. Ahead of the prime minister’s visit to the US, Sandhu had said that India-US ties are “destined to move ahead” and both countries continue to develop the relationship in areas like defence, healthcare. Rudra Gaurav Shresth A 1999 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Shresth has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Prime Minister’s Office. He has also served as the country’s High Commissioner to Mozambique. Vivek Kumar Indian Foreign Service Vivek Kumar is the private secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Kumar was earlier a Director in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). He was appointed in the PMO as Deputy Secretary in 2014. As per Kumar’s LinkedIn account, he holds a BTech degree in chemical engineering from IIT Bombay and has served in diplomatic positions in Russia and Australia. With inputs from agencies