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Jill Biden's Diamond Gift from Prime Minister Modi

Monday, June 8, 2026
5 min read
Jill Biden's Diamond Gift from Prime Minister Modi

Jill Biden actually recalled getting a diamond. A 7.5-carat thing, supposedly from Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his state visit to the US back in June 2023. She called it one of the most memorable gifts she ever received while she was at the White House.

It pops up in her memoir, View from the East Wing: A Memoir . She talked about the diamond and all the messy rules the financial stuff, the ethics stuff that you have to follow just living in that environment.

She wrote something kind of reflective about it. “Sometimes little things flowers, wine but sometimes big ones. Like the 7.5-carat synthetic diamond Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi handed me on that state visit. It felt like a symbol of his country trying to lead in lab-grown gems,” she wrote. And she added, “The diamond was gorgeous.”

Then there’s the logistics, which gets weird fast. Apparently, Modi told her that the piece had been handmade right there in his hometown. He even supplied the bill of sale.

Initially, Jill thought, maybe she should just buy it. She considered it. But then came the paperwork. The State Department appraised it. It came out at twenty thousand dollars. So, she didn't buy it.

That appraisal put the diamond’s worth eight times what Modi had initially mentioned. That gap, that difference, is where the whole thing gets complicated, I guess.

The rules are pretty strict, though. Under US ethics regulations, anything presented to the President or First Lady during official stuff, it legally belongs to the federal government. You can only keep it if you actually purchase it at the officially assessed market value. Simple, but complicated when you’re dealing with gifts.

She didn't end up keeping the diamond, though. She mentioned that it was mounted into a ring that she wore for official functions while serving as First Lady.

When they left office, she gave the ring back. It went into a warehouse. Along with a ton of other presidential gifts. Many of those things, she wrote, got destroyed.

She made a comparison there. She contrasted that diamond with something else. A bracelet gifted by French First Lady Brigitte Macron. That one, she actually purchased from the government. She still wears that one, regularly.

The memoir also dives into the actual preparations for Modi’s visit. There were details about the White House state dinner they had in June 2023.

Chef Nina Curtis was in charge of the menu. It wasn't just standard stuff. They had a salad with marinated millets. Stuffed portobello mushrooms with saffron-infused risotto. And a strawberry shortcake infused with rose and cardamom.

It’s a behind-the-scenes look, really. Not just the glamour of the gift, but the whole dance of diplomatic protocols, the gift rules, and all the planning that went into Modi’s trip to Washington. It’s a messy picture, that whole experience.

Written by Gree News Team — Senior Editorial Board

Gree News Team covers international news and global affairs at Gree News. Our collective of senior editors is dedicated to providing independent, accurate, and responsible journalism for a global audience.

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