India / Obama describes Rahul Gandhi in his new book, his quote goes viral

New Delhi: Former US President Barack Obama, in his newly published political memoir "A Promised Land", has drawn sketches of several leaders of the US and other nations which includes Rahul Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, according to a report in the New York Times. The UPA government, led by Mr Singh, was in power for part of Mr Obama's decade-long tenure from 2009 to 2017.

"And then there are his biographical sketches, masterful in their brevity and insight and humor," read the New York Times review.

The gallery, according to the US daily, included former Russian Premier Vladimir Putin, then Secretary of Defense Bob Gates and the US President-elect Joe Biden, among others.

On Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the New York Times article read: "Secretary of Defense Bob Gates and the Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh both come across as having a kind of impassive integrity".

"Rahul Gandhi has 'a nervous, unformed quality about him, as if he were a student who'd done the coursework and was eager to impress the teacher but deep down lacked either the aptitude or the passion to master the subject'," reported New York Times, quoting from the book.

Rahul Gandhi, who during Mr Obama's tenure, was the Vice President of the Congress, had met Mr Obama during his last visit to India in December 2017. Mr Gandhi had tweeted about the meeting.

"Had a fruitful chat with President @BarackObama Great to meet him again," Mr Gandhi had posted, along with a photograph.

In 2015, Mr Obama was the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations. During the visit, he had even co-hosted "Mann ki Baat" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The New York Times review also quoted Mr Obama's take on US President-elect Joe Biden.

"Joe Biden is a decent, honest, loyal man who Obama senses 'might get prickly if he thought he wasn't given his due - a quality that might flare up when dealing with a much younger boss'," the NYT Article read.

"Vladimir Putin reminds him of the tough, street-smart ward bosses who used to run the Chicago machine. Also on Putin: "Physically, he was unremarkable'," the NYT article read.

About Hu Jintao, who was the President of China from 2003 to 2013, the NYT article read: "In a private meeting, Hu Jintao reads from stacks of prepared papers, so monotonous that Obama considers suggesting 'that we could save each other time by just exchanging papers and reading them at our leisure'."

"The Promised Land" is the first of a two-part memoir written by the 59-year-old former US President.