Washington/ New Delhi:
The US has said there is no change in its policy
to deny visa to Narendra Modi, marking a setback for the Gujarat CM
ahead of assembly polls later this year. The issue was revived after a
Congressman wrote to secretary of state Hillary Clinton seeking that the
US reverse its 2005 decision barring Modi entry. “Our position on
the visa issue hasn’t changed at all,” state department spokesperson
Victoria Nuland said on Wednesday, responding to questions on the letter
written by Congressman Joe Walsh about a fortnight ago. Clinton has not
replied yet. “If we do respond, it’ll be along familiar lines,” Nuland
said. The Indian American Muslim community demanded the state department
stick to the 2005 policy on Modi’s visa. Walsh had argued that 10
years have passed since the violence in Gujarat and much progress has
been made. “Modi has been recognized across the world for establishing
Gujarat as the most business-friendly state in India,” he had said,
adding that the BJP leader was “widely believed to be a serious
contender for the 2014 election for Indian PM”. There was no
reaction from Modi or the Gujarat government but the Congress took a
swipe at the BJP leader. Law minister Salman Khurshid said it was a
matter of concern that a question mark hung over someone who was heading
a leading state in the country. “I hope the person concerned
will...think about why the world thinks so poorly of him,” he said. Modi was first denied a visa in 2005 by the United States against
the backdrop of the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat in which 1,200
people were killed, most of them Muslims. The US had said it could not
issue him a diplomatic visa because of its Immigration and Nationality
Act which states that “any foreign government official responsible for
serious violation of religious freedom… will be forbidden entry to the
country”. AGENCIES
