Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan presented US President Barack Obama a coffee table book on the state and requested him to keep it in the White House museum.

Chavan, who received the President and First Lady Michelle at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, gifted the book published by the state government on the Diamond Jubilee year of Maharashtra's creation.

"The chief minister welcomed the President and his wife Michelle and presented a coffee table book on Maharashtra," an official who was accompanying the CM at the airport told PTI.

Chavan told Obama that the book would give him every information about the state including history, culture and major events and requested him to keep it in the White House museum, the official said.

Obama said that the world has been always curious about Mumbai and therefore he chose the destination for his India visit apart from Delhi.

Image: Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan greets Michelle Obama at Mumbai airport.

Photograph: Jason Reed