White House Needs More Chai Pe Charcha, Says POTUS

New Delhi: "Thank you for the Chai pe Charcha," said President Barack Obama to Prime Minster Narendra Modi at a joint press conference today, suggesting that his White House could "do with some of those."

The US president was referring to a private talk over tea that the two leaders held after strolling together in the lawns of Delhi's Hyderabad House this afternoon. 

The "chai pe charcha (chat over tea)" concept, made global today by President Obama's comment, was Mr Modi's winning campaign strategy in the run-up to the general elections that he won last year. It was meant to highlight his humble origins as a boy who sold tea on trains, after a Congress leader made snide comments about it.

Today, Mr Modi poured the tea in more symbolism. 
 
The two leaders had stepped out into the garden of the stately Hyderabad House, a mansion built in 1928 and which has been the venue for many high-level official meetings and summit talks. They walked after a working lunch, leisurely strolling along the red sandstone pathways, talking animatedly.

Their body language made their warm chemistry obvious and Mr Modi referred to it at the press conference when he said, "I share a personal chemistry with Barack. Relationships, chemistry matter more between leaders than commas and full-stops on paper."
 
They then sat down on two comfortable single-seater sofa chairs laid down in the Hyderabad House garden, under a curtained canopy, and Mr Modi poured out the tea, handing a cup to Mr Obama without a break in conversation.
 
They chatted for more than 10 minutes before getting up and walking back into Hyderabad House. Observers believe that this conversation led to the crucial breakthrough in the six-year deadlock over the nuclear deal between the two countries.