In Washington, US President Barack Obama hosted a high-level dinner in honour of India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday.
It followed talks between the two leaders earlier in the day during which they covered issues ranging from the India-US civilian nuclear deal, to climate change and the global economy.
It's not an official state visit, of course, because Mr Singh is not head of his state - that would be the Indian president - but you'd never know here in DC.
A senior diplomat at the State Department brimmed with enthusiasm when I spoke with him about it this week and our colleagues on American cable TV have been going crazy too.
President and Mrs Obama greeted Mr and Mrs Singh on the steps of the White House ahead of a black tie state dinner with more than three hundred guests, plenty of top politicians and a handful of Hollywood A-listers. It all took place inside a giant tent on the south lawn of the White House because, with three hundred and fifty guests, there was no room inside.
It was the hottest ticket in town since the inauguration parties in January.
Michelle Obama wore a champagne outfit made by Indian-born designer Naeem Khan, and she wore Indian-style bangles on her wrists too.
Green curry, aged basmati rice, lentil soup and potato dumplings were on the menu. Purple flowers on the tables.
Earlier, President Obama and Prime Minister Singh had warm words for each other in the East Room of the White House as they got down to business.
The President said: "This visit reflects the high esteem in which I and the American people hold your wise leadership."
Manmohan Sing followed that with: "India and America are separated by distance but bound together by the values of democracy, pluralism, rule of law and respect for fundamental human freedoms."
The pair discussed the 2005 India civil nuclear deal, security co-operation, global warming and the economic recovery.
But the real aim of the visit is to reassure the Indian delegation that New Delhi is still a very important US ally in the region.
This diplomatic shuffle comes about because the Indians were disappointed that President Obama went on his first major overseas state visit to China last week and not their country.
The Indians are terrified the US will abandon Afghanistan to the Taliban and, with all the US emphasis on Pakistan lately, New Delhi has been questioning the status of the special relationship it thought it had secured with the previous President George W Bush.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has accused India of supporting insurgents in Kashmir and of slowing down peace talks between the two.
Ambassador Richard Holbrooke – President Obama's special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan – told a state department briefing on Monday that relations with India are strong and stressed they should not be seen as diminished.
"We seek to improve our relations with Pakistan we seek to improve our relations with China to improve our relations with India. This is not a zero sum game. Every country benefits," he said,
" I read the press. I know what New Delhi and Lahore say about each other. But it's really not justified by the facts in many cases. These two countries live side by side and have to live together and our role is to assist both of them according to their desires and their own view of their sovereignty."
Sixty years after President Harry Truman welcomed Pandit Nehru, the first Prime Minister of an independent India, to the White House in October 1949, so much has changed for India.
It has thrown off the yoke of British colonialism to become a rising power that is courted by a super power.
Both countries are democracies - both have been victims of al-Qaeda terrorism recently - both have interests in Afghanistan and both are major trading nations.
In other words both will need each other more and more in the years ahead.
If anything that was the main theme of this state visit that wasn't.
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