Nancy Powell to meet Narendra Modi

The US ambassador Nancy Powell is set to meet Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad later this week.

Confirming the report a state department official said, “This is part of our concentrated outreach to senior political and business leaders which began in November to highlight the US-India relationship.”

This is the first time when US government is directly reaching out to Narendra Modi post Gujarat riot episode and sending out a message. Since 2002 Washington has been shunning Modi over the Gujarat riots, but after UK, European nations and Australia have started working with him, the pressure has been mounting on Washington to end the boycott of Modi as he is the favourite to become India’s next Prime Minister by the end of June this year.

When asked whether this meeting will be seen as US acceptance to Modi and whether US is ready to grant visa to Modi, the official told AFP that it is premature to comments on the outcome of the meeting.

“There has been no change in our longstanding visa policy.  When individuals apply for a US visa, their applications are reviewed in accordance with US law and policy. We do not speculate about outcomes of that process,” the official added.

However, AFP has quoted a congressional aide who said the between Powell and Modi would send a signal that US is ready to grant Visa to Modi.

“A meeting with the ambassador could be a way of signaling, ‘You’ll get a visa,’ without having to say it, which she can’t,” the aide told AFP on condition of anonymity.

(Additional Input: AFP)

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