Details of PM Shehbaz, ex-ISI chief’s gifts to US officials revealed

The United States (US) State Department has published the annual accounting list of 2023 wherein the list of gifts received by President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden and US intelligence officials from multiple countries, including Pakistan, has been revealed.

According to the list, Pakistani officials presented four gifts to US federal government members in 2023. Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif, on October 20, 2022, gifted President Biden a rug in a velvet case, valued at $525.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Masood Khan, on September 9, 2023, gifted a traditional rug worth $600 to Biden’s aide and Senior Director for South Asia Eileen Laubacher. 

Former Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) Director General (DG) Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum, on February 23, 2023, gifted a handcrafted table to US Senator Mark R Warner, which was priced at $120. On the same day, the then ISI chief also gifted a handcrafted table worth $152 to US Senator Jack Reed.

Meanwhile, Indian PM Narendra Modi topped the list by giving the most expensive present – a 7.5-carat diamond – costing $20,000 dollars, to First Lady Jill Biden.

India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval gifted US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan two distinct items – a silver Jaguar statue in January 2023 worth $485 and a wooden elephant sculpture worth $638 in July 2023.

The report also revealed that the Indian premier’s diamond was retained for official use in the White House’s East Wing while other gifts to the president and first lady were sent to the archives.

According to the document, Ukrainian Ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova gifted Jill a flower brooch valued at $14,063.

It merits a mention that gift-giving is a major part of foreign relations, which is viewed as a sign of respect and friendship between nations.

As part of tradition, several employees of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) also received lavish gifts including luxury watches, perfume and jewellery. The gifts were priced at a total of over $132,000.

However, nearly all gifts to CIA employees were destroyed under US government’s strict rules about what officials can do with gifts to avoid apparent or actual bribery from foreign governments.

Under law, federal employees are not allowed to accept gifts over a certain value “unless refusal of the gift would cause offence or embarrassment or would otherwise adversely affect the foreign relations of the US”.