Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met US President Barack Obama at the White House over dinner, ahead of formal talks on Tuesday.

The two leaders "exchanged anecdotes about their first few days in office, to see if they had anything in common", India's foreign ministry said.

Earlier, Mr Modi met the CEOs of top global firms in New York in an effort to persuade them to invest in India.

He assured them that he was committed to liberalising the economy.

Mr Modi gifted the president a copy of Gita, one of the most revered texts of Hinduism, a rare photo of Martin Luther King at Rajghat, the memorial of India's independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, and a copy of a speech he gave in India, he added.

The Indian leader did not eat at the dinner as he is observing a nine-day religious fast, but he told President Obama to "please go ahead as normal" while he sipped warm water, officials said.

The two leaders are due to hold official talks on Tuesday.

Earlier on Monday, the prime minister met top American business leaders to seek investments to drive India's manufacturing sector.


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