US President Joe Biden celebrated Diwali at the White House on Monday at an event attended by more than 600 distinguished Indian Americans, news agency PTI reported.

“As President, I had the honor of hosting the largest Diwali reception ever at the White House. For me it means a lot. As Senator, Vice President and President; South Asian Americans have been important members of my staff,” the US President said while addressing Indian-American congressmen, officials and business leaders from across the country.

“From Kamala to Dr. Murthy to so many of you here today, I am proud that I have fulfilled my commitment to have a government that looks like America,” Joe Biden added.

Biden’s address included an introduction by Indian-American youth activist Shrusti Amula and speeches by Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, US Surgeon General; Sunita Williams, the retired naval officer and NASA astronaut who sent a recorded video message from the International Space Station.

Vice President Kamala Harris and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden was not present at the event due to campaign commitments.

Recalling the first Diwali celebration at the White House in 2016, Biden noted that in 2024, as then, a “dark cloud of hatred and hostility toward immigrants, including South Asian Americans” has emerged again.

“An Irish Catholic president, then vice president, opened our home to holiday celebrations by Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs and others. “How America reminds us all of our power to be the light, all of us,” he said.

Biden lit the formal diya in the Blue Room of the White House and used the opportunity to thank the South Asian American community for their role in American democracy.

“On this day in America we reflect on this journey of light. At the dawn of our nation’s founding, a generation before Diya, in the shadow of distrust, Diwali is now celebrated openly and proudly here at the White House,” he said.