From Gulabi Meenakari to Kashmiri carpet: PM Modi's gift to world leaders at G7 Summit highlight Indian heritage

For foreign dignitaries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often chosen gifts that showcase India's rich cultural and artistic traditions, and it was no different this time as he picked a variety of products for the heads of governments at the G7 Summit.

It was distinct artistic products identified with different regions of Uttar Pradesh and other states which featured heavily in his choices, with the US president Joe Biden receiving Gulabi Meenakari, a GI-tagged artform of Varanasi, cufflink set and brooch, and the German chancellor Olaf Scholz getting metal marodi-carving matka, considered a masterpiece from Moradabad, official sources said on Tuesday.

The cufflinks were prepared for US President Joe Biden with a matching brooch for his wife, the sources said.

READ | Kerala reinforces Covid-19 curbs as daily cases continue to rise

Modi gifted black pottery pieces, which are from Nizamabad in Uttar Pradesh, to Japan's prime minister Fumio Kishida and a platinum-painted tea set with work done by hand to his British counterpart Boris Johnson, they said.

He gifted ittar (perfume derived from natural sources) bottles in zardozi box, crafted in Lucknow, to the French president Emmanuel Macron and marble inlay, roots in Agra, tabletop to the Italian prime minister Mario Draghi. The ittar-carrying zari zardozi box has been hand embroidered on khadi silk and satin tissue in colours of the French flag, sources said.

Noting that the tradition of hand-weaving is passed down from mother to daughter in Senegal, sources said Modi chose moonj baskets and cotton durries (heavy run) for Germany's president Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The practice is considered a vehicle for cultural expression and family livelihood driven by strong women, the sources said, adding the products have origin in UP's Prayagraj, Sultanpur and Amethi districts.

READ | Jagannath Rath Yatra 2022: Know importance, significance, 2022 schedule

With Ramayana tradition an enduring part of Indonesian culture, Modi gifted lacquerware "Ram Durbar" to Joko Widodo. The GI-tagged lacquerware art-form has its roots in the temple town of Varanasi, which is incidentally the constituency Modi represents in the Lok Sabha.

The prime minister gifted a hand-knotted silk carpet, a signature product from Kashmir, to his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau, the sources said. Dokra arts with Ramayana and Nandi themes were his gifts of choice for the South African president Cyril Ramaphosa and Argentinian president Alberto Fernández, respectively.

Dokra Art is a non-ferrous metal casting art using the lost-wax casting technique, and it has been in India for over 4,000 years, they said, adding both products are from Chhattisgarh. Modi on Tuesday left for the UAE after attending a productive G7 Summit in Germany and interacting with several world leaders.