India
arter had visited the village since his mother Lillian Gordy Carter had been stationed in the village in the 1960s as a social worker.
Updated : Feb 23, 2020, 08:18 PM IST | Edited by : Arijit Saha
Ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to India, a village few kilometres away from Delhi is abuzz with activity. The village, located in Haryana's Gurugram, is named after former US President Jimmy Carter and is called Carterpuri. The village was visited by former President Carter on 3rd January 1978 along with his wife Rosalynn Carter.
Atack Singh Baghel who was 24 when Carter came to the village said, "It was festivity in the village when he came. He called on village panchayat and presented the proposal of renaming the village Carterpuri".
Carter had visited the village since his mother Lillian Gordy Carter had been stationed in the village in the 1960s as a social worker.
Kartar Singh Baghel, the elder brother of Atack said, "communication continued between the White House and the village for a long time later." adding, "It became a personal relationship and we used to tell, a man from this village is in the white house"
Jimmy Carter wrote to Bup Singh Yada, headman of the Carterpuri saying, "I very much appreciated the warm hospitality and friendship which you and all the people of Carterpuri extended to me when I visited your village"
Thanking the village for its hospitality, he said, "It was, without doubt, one of the high points of my entire foreign travel and represented an experience I shall not soon forget"
The first lady also wrote to Carterpuri, saying "Jimmy and I were pleased to receive the lovely gifts on the occasion of our visit to India. They will always remind us of our wonderful time in Carterpuri...thank you so much for these gifts and for your gracious hospitality."