The diamond, valued at $20,000 and manufactured in Surat, has emerged as the most expensive gift that the US first family received in 2023. PM Modi presented it when he visited the US in June 2023.
Among the various gifts that Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered US President Joe Biden and his wife during his visit in June 2023 was a box containing a 7.5-carat synthetic diamond. According to State Department officials, this diamond, valued at $20,000, has been reported to be the most expensive gift received by the US first family in 2023.
It is one of the dozens of thousands of gifts that foreign leaders showered on Biden and his wife in 2023. However, Jill Biden cannot use it as this piece has been preserved for official use at the White House East Wing.
Her representatives told the Associated Press that the Surat-based manufactured, cut, and polished diamond laboratory-grown stone would become the property of the National Archives as their term winds up to begin Donald Trump’s January 20 inauguration.
According to norms, however, the First Lady would be allowed to “buy” the gift from the US government at its market value after Biden demits office. Such a case is, however, rare, especially with high-end items.
As the law states, any gift over $480 to the first family received from a foreign official needs to be reported. Though meagre gifts can be kept for personal use, expensive ones are usually given to the National Archives or exhibited officially.
