Image via The White House
The White House today released a short video featuring highlights of President Obama's three-day trip to India starring Kal Penn, the actor perhaps best known for the stoner comedy Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. Penn (born Kalpen Suresh Modi) worked in the Obama administration from 2009-11 as associate director of the Office of Public Engagement, and he is currently a member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.The video features Penn riding around New Delhi in a rickshaw, breaking down for viewers the reasons "why President Obama is in India in the first place and what that's all about." Penn explains that one of the main reasons that Obama made this trip, his second to India as president, was that he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had "hit it off" during the PM's September 2014 visit to the US. Modi followed up on this visit by extending an invitation to Obama to be "chief guest" at India's Republic Day parade on Monday, which commemorates the adoption of India's constitution."Who doesn't love democracy?" asks Penn. "Well, I can think of some people who don't love democracy, but we're not talking about those people today."The video goes on to highlight the frenetic pace of Obama's meetings with Modi, on issues ranging from civil nuclear understanding to the environment to counter-terrorism. As his amused rickshaw driver looks on, Penn wraps up the video with the hint of another of these videos, dubbed On Board With Kal Penn, to follow: "Now it's off to Saudi Arabia."